Mando Diao 'Give Me Fire' album

When a rock band chooses a hip hop producer it often creates lots of negative publicity for the band because "hardcore fans" are skeptic and negative about it even before the album comes out.

Swedish Mando Diao have in course of four albums proved that they are a talented and energetic rock band and with their bland of The Clash, The Beatles, Joy Division and Oasis, the band has enjoyed success in Europe.

For their fifth album since 2002, the band has wisely chosen to steer the tings up by boarding their horizons by teaming up with Salla Salazar (of hip hoppers The Latin Kings) and his brother Masse, which has resulted their most ambitious release to date.

Lets be straight from the start; a hip hop producer doesn't mean that Mando Diao have created a hip hot record. But what id does mean is that on Give Me Fire there is much more focus on rhythmical aspects of the music and this works perfectly for the band.

At the same time the band rocks on, so the raw rock energy is not compromised. From the The Stooges like energy of the opener "Blue Lining White Trenchcoat", a 70's disco power of the "Dance With Somebody", film-like beauty of "Gloria" or glorious finale in form of "The Shining", Mando Diao deliver the music, which is exciting well written, and brilliantly produced. With an exception of melody driven "Crystal", which lacks a good melody, this is a basically flawless record.

Hopefully also next time around the band will work with Salazar brothers or somebody just as exciting and creative.

The forthcoming release on Universal Republic Give Me Fire (July 14-release) moves forward without abandoning the roots and this means that this is the best, most vital and most exciting album in the band's career.

Mando Diao biography
Not so long ago, a young band from the Swedish town of Borlänge came along and conquered the world of rock’n’roll in a surprise coup. Early 2004 saw the arrival of “Bring ‘Em In”, the furioso debut by these exceptionally gifted, if somewhat big-mouthed songwriters. And then things happened in quick succession. A new album every year and countless concerts in increasingly large venues. Their albums, “Hurricane Bar” and “Ode To Ochrasy” effortlessly made gold in Germany, and their most recent release, “Never Seen The Light Of Day”, which had them experiment with Scandinavian folk music, among other directions, surprised fans and critics alike.

Although last year went by without a new Mando Diao offering, instant classics such as “Sheepdog”, “Down In The Past” and “Long Before Rock’n’Roll” were a must for every self-respecting DJ in 2008. And even without a new release, the year has been pretty exciting for the band. The two guitarists, vocalists and songwriters Gustaf Nóren and Björn Dixgård got married, and Nóren’s wife gave birth to a son.

The band’s own studio in Stockholm was completed in spring, so by May 2008, Mando Diao were ready to start recording their fifth album under the sonic direction of bassist C-J Fogelklou and keyboardist Mats Björke. The recording process was finalised in November in sunny Long Beach, where a friend of the band’s has a studio, and the fruit of their labours is due out on Universal at the end of May 2009.

Mando Diao have long hit the big time, that much is for certain, and it’s just as certain that their new album “Give Me Fire” will continue to increase their standing even further. No song is like the other, yet all of them are typical Mando Diao. And “typical” is synonymous with great when it comes to this band. To start off with, there’s the first single, “Dance With Somebody”, which is as simple as it is great. “Yes, it’s a very simple song”, Fogelklou confirms, “probably the simplest song we’ve ever recorded. But the effect is simply amazing.” Indeed it is. A stomping beat, a pumping bass line, dazzling keyboards and spherically reverberating guitars, topped by vocals which could make a stone melt. Thanks to its terrific chorus, you’ll find it impossible to get this smasher with its 70ies disco tendencies out of you brain.

“Dance With Somebody” isn’t the only surprise. “Gimme Fire” reveals a discreet reggae feel, “The Shining” has Ennio Morricone meet Lee Hazelwood in a Mariachi bar, and “Nothing On Me” really gets down to business. The latter sounds as if “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath, Arthur Brown’s “Fire” and Edwin Starr’s “War” – in the Eric Burdon version – had been thrown into a blender switched on heavy rotation. Mando Diao goes psychedelic metal pop? “At least once in my life I wanted to write a song like this,” explains Dixgård, who doesn’t mince his words when he sings about “fascists and certain policemen”. “It’s a simple little rebel song which helped me get my aggressions off my chest.”

Naturally, there are also a number of up-beat rockers such as “Go Out Tonight” and “Gloria” with its crystal-clear guitars and a cool lascivious chorus with definite Tom Jones qualities. “Blue Lining”, on the other hand, rocks as breathlessly, powerfully and uncompromisingly wired as we’ve come to know the band since their early days. Another potential hit single. Mind you, this applies to all the new songs, the wistfully yearning groover, “High Heels”, for example, which has its listeners immerse themselves in the atmosphere of a cabaret in Paris in the late 1940s, or “Mean Street”, an elated good-time number which reveals Mando Diao’s love of the Motown vibe and Broadway grandeur.

No doubt about it: 2009 will be Mando Diao’s year. Again.

Mando Diao Discography
Bring ‘Em In (2004)
Hurricane Bar (2005)
Ode To Ochrasy (2006)
Never Seen The Light Of Day (2007)
Give Me Fire (2009)

meet the band Mando Diao
Gustaf Nóren (g./v.)
Björn Dixgård (g./v.)
Carl-Johan Fogelklou (b.)
Samuel Giers (d.)
Mats Björke (k.)

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Mando Diao - Give Me Fire