Elegant Machinery is a Swedish

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

band. Borrowing heavily from

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

, they are one of few recent bands dedicated to making traditional synthpop music. Along with such bands as

Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young ma ...

S.P.O.C.K S.P.O.C.K (aka Star Pilot On Channel K) is a Swedish synthpop band which formed around 1988. Background The band's original lineup was songwriter Eddie Bengtsson (formerly a founding member of Page), Finn Albertsson, and vocalist Alexander Hofma ...

Sista Mannen På Jorden Sista Mannen På Jorden (meaning "Last Man on Earth") or SMPJ is a Swedish synthpop group formed in 1986 by Eddie Bengtsson and Matts Wiberg. In 2004, Wiberg left the band and was replaced by Christer Hermodsson of S.P.O.C.K in 2005. Backgroun ...

and Kiethevez they define the sound of the Swedish synthpop movement. Heavily influenced by acts like Yazoo,

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album '' Dare ...

Rational Youth Rational Youth was a Canadian new wave Synth-pop band that was originally active between 1981 and 1986, and at various points up until the end of 2021. History Rational Youth was formed in 1981 in Montreal, Quebec, by synthesizer players Tracy ...

. Robert Enforsen,

Richard Jomshof ''Richard'' Johannes Jomshof, né ''Lohikoski'', (born 6 July 1969 in Helsingborg) is a Swedish politician affiliated with the Sweden Democrats (SD) party and former pop musician. He serves as party secretary of the Sweden Democrats and has bee ...

and

Leslie Bayne Leslie may refer to: * Leslie (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname, including fictional characters Families * Clan Leslie, a Scottish clan with the motto "grip fast" * Leslie (Russian nobility), a Russian noble fami ...

started the band in 1988 under the name Pole Position.

Robert Enforsen The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...

joined the band as lead vocalist in 1989, and the band released their first demo, at which point they changed their name to Elegant Machinery, a name derived from the album by

DATA In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpret ...

, a British

group of the 1980s led by Norwegian

Georg Kajanus Georg Johan Tjegodiev r TchegodaieffKajanus (born 9 February 1946) is a Norwegian composer and pop musician, best known as the lead singer and songwriter of the British pop group Sailor. Early years Kajanus was born in Trondheim, Norway, to ...

. Due to Leslie Bayne's stagefright,

Johan Malmgren Johan * Johan (given name) * ''Johan'' (film), a 1921 Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Johan Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada * Jo-Han, a manu ...

joined the band as a tour musician in 1992. He later became a permanent member. The band was very successful in Sweden, with a number of successful singles and various awards. In the rest of Europe, their biggest break into the mainstream was with the single ''Process'', which reached number 5 in the Spanish charts.

Breakup, reunion and breakup

Elegant Machinery disbanded in 1999. In 2001, the band temporarily reunited (with Johan temporarily replaced by Jarmo Ollila of Daily Planet) for their first-ever American appearance, followed by a performance in Mexico. Over the next few years, the band performed a number of times in Europe. In October 2004, after a successful gig at Romo Night in Gothenburg, the band decided to work on new music. Johan, Richard, and Robert have been joined by original member

. In November 2007, it was announced that the band had signed with German label Out of Line. A new single "Feel the Silence" was released in January. The current line-up consists of Robert Enforsen, Richard Jomshof and Leslie Bayne. In early April 2011, there were rumours that the band had split once again. This was later confirmed by the group's management. Jomshof denied the rumours that the split had anything to do with his political career with the

Sweden Democrats The Sweden Democrats ( sv , Sverigedemokraterna ; SD ) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden. As of 2022, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing governing bloc to which it provides confidence and supply ...

and cited other personal differences as reasons for the breakup. In 2016, Robert Enforsen and Leslie Bayne reformed Elegant Machinery with new part-time member Jonas Kröjtz. They released a new EP on October 14, 2016, entitled, "I"

Side projects

During the band's hiatus,

worked on a number of side projects, including Enforce, Hype, Gobble & Gag, and Red Light District. Meanwhile,

joined the Swedish band

as a keyboardist, programmer and composer. Johan and Robert also produced the debut album "''Lost in a Maze''" of the Swedish-

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

band Univaque in 2004.

Discography

Albums

* ''Degraded Faces'' (1991) * ''Shattered Grounds'' (1993) * ''Yesterday Man'' (1996) * '' A Soft Exchange'' (2008)

Singles / EPs

* ''Safety in Mind'' (1990) * ''Process'' (1992) * ''Hard to Handle'' (1993) * ''Repressive Thoughts'' (1994) * ''Watching You'' (1995) * ''Myself With You'' (1996) * ''Fading Away'' (1998) * ''Words of Wisdom'' (1998) * ''Feel the Silence'' (2008) * ''Move'' (2008) * ''Brave new world (with

Technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...

featuring Robert Enforsen)'' (2009) * ''I'' (2016)

Compilations

* '' A Decade of Thoughts'' (1998)

DVDs

* ''Archives'' (2005)

References

External links

Band home page

German Fanpage
{{Authority control Swedish synthpop groups