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Colonia may share with the Cardigans' late records that polished yet entirely too comfortable sound that reveals few insights, but it deftly presents Persson's uncomfortable vision of a world with little left to hold onto.
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Alternative PressDespite its pristine arrangements, Colonia turns into sonic NyQuil about halfway through, and ends up a low-day--albeit impeccable-sounding-listen. [Jun 2009, p.102]
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A proper, fully formed record rather than a side-project doodle, Colonia is where artistic integrity meets pop conviction in a curious, deranged yet compelling sing-along.
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Too bad her sharpest one-liners on Colonia get buried in a wash of pastoral easy listening.
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FilterThis is a fine pop album; it bites as well as bops. [Spring 2009, p.96]
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On her second album under the name A Camp, Persson drapes herself in breezy '60s-pop arrangements, lamb's-wool duds that dress some deadly ideas.
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MojoColonia has nothing like its predecessor's consistency of tone, but Persson strikes gold with two siren calls worthy of the last, desperate, doom-laden Abba albums. [Mar 2009, p.109]
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Listening to the album as a whole, it's satisfyingly compact, a neatly produced record with stand-out tracks and growers.
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Colonia has an awful lot of ideas, but doesn’t really know what to do with them and the majority of tracks end up sounding messy and--like the rest of us following Christmas--carrying a little too much extra weight.
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If she has more misanthropic stuff like this up her A Camp sleeve? Hey-forget the Cardigans, and bring it on.
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Colonia is mostly careful to use its expanded palette of sounds for subtle shading rather than gratuitous effect.
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Colonia plays it safe by gathering together various aspects of the Cardigans/Camp catalogue and adorning them to the brim with pretty, but unsatisfying decoration.
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That darker side of Persson gives Colonia many of its most beautiful moments and includes some of her best vocal work to date.
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Q MagazineTHe lush '60s pop arrangements are scuppered by overly introspective lyrics. [Mar 2009, p.93]
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Persson sounds cute and tender, even while comparing love to a shotgun, shining some midnight sun on these dark, alluring songs.
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Colonia is what pop music might have sounded like in the era of gaslights and guillotines.
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Beguiling, gorgeous stuff--and smartly funny, too.
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Colonia peters out with three laments that lose their power when grouped together, and two instrumentals that waste opportunities to hear more of that wonderful voice.
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UncutIt's rich, beguiling stuff. [Mar 2009, p.78]
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Under The RadarColonia is an adequate collection of craftman-like retro pop. [Spring 2009, p.64]
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As a whole, Colonia takes on a very operatic, larger than life, almost ABBA-esque quality, which grows a bit tired as the album winds down.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 11
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Mixed: 0 out of 11
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Negative: 2 out of 11
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liuApr 29, 2009