Elegant Machinery is a Swedish

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

band. Borrowing heavily from

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

, 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 m ...

, S.P.O.C.K, Sista Mannen På Jorden 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 music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

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, Lohikoski, (born 6 July 1969 in Helsingborg) is a Swedish politician affiliated with the Sweden Democrats (SD) party and former pop musician. He worked as a teacher and was active in the music industry before he was e ...

and Leslie Bayne started the band in 1988 under the name Pole Position. Robert Enforsen 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 Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

, a British

group of the 1980s led by Norwegian

Georg Kajanus Georg Johan Tjegodiev Kajanus (also Tchegodaieff; 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 on 9 February 1946, in ...

. Due to Leslie Bayne's stagefright, Johan Malmgren 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, breakup and reunion

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 Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, the band decided to work on new music. Johan, Richard, and Robert have been joined by original member Leslie Bayne. 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 ( , SD ) is a Nationalism, nationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's Right-wing politics, right-wing bloc and the sec ...

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" Since 2019 Elegant Machinery has consisted of Robert Enforsen and Johan Malmgren. Leslie Bayne left the band in March 2023. A new album is currently taking shape.

Side projects

During the band's hiatus, Robert Enforsen worked on a number of side projects, including Enforce, Hype, Gobble & Gag, and Red Light District. Meanwhile, Johan Malmgren joined the Swedish band S.P.O.C.K 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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

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

Compilations

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

DVDs

* ''Archives'' (2005)

References

External links

Band home page

German Fanpage
{{Authority control Swedish synth-pop groups