''Freedom'' is the fourth studio album by Swedish

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band

Refused Refused (also known as the Refused) is a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå and formed in 1991. Refused is composed of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén, guitarist Kristofer Steen, drummer David Sandström, and bassist Magnus Flagge. Guita ...

, released via

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

on 29 June 2015. It is the first album released by the band since 1998's ''

The Shape of Punk to Come ''The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts'', often shortened to ''The Shape of Punk to Come'', is the third album by Swedish hardcore punk band Refused, released on 27 October 1998 through Burning Heart Records. The alb ...

'', as well as the first album to feature bassist Magnus Flagge as a full-time member since ''

Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent ''Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent'' is the second full-length album by Swedish hardcore punk band Refused. It was released in 1996 through Victory Records, Startrec and We Bite on CD, tape and 12" vinyl; and reissued by Burning Heart Recor ...

'' (1996) and first to not feature guitarist Jon F. Brännström since '' This Just Might Be... the Truth'' (1994).

Background

After the band's successful 2012 reunion tour, Refused entered a hiatus for the next two years. However, rumours of a return to touring resurfaced after Jon Brännström posted on the group's

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page that he was fired some time in 2013. The band announced later in November 2014 that they would perform in a string of festival dates and tour dates in North America supporting

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

. Already two weeks before rumours began to surface of a new album, after ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's Autrey Fulbright II posted a photo on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

claiming that Lyxzén had been in the studio recording vocals for the album. The post in question was quickly deleted, however in April 2015 the group announced that they would be releasing a new album in June. The album was produced by

Nick Launay Nicolas Launay (born 5 March 1960) is an English record producer, composer and recording engineer, currently residing in Los Angeles, CA. He is one of the most sought after record producers in the world due to his success with recent albums b ...

, who was known for his work with bands such as

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band formed by lead vocalist John Lydon (previously, as Johnny Rotten, lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene (a founding member of the Clash), bassi ...

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

and

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, with two tracks co-written and produced by former Blinded Colony frontman and prolific pop producer Shellback, including lead single "Elektra". Other co-writing credits include "Old Friends / New War" with lyrics inspired by

Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (, ; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school. Osip Mandelstam was arrested during the repressions of the 1930s and sent into internal exile wi ...

and "Destroy the Man" co-written with Anders Lind. The band released the track "Elektra" on a "pay what you want" offer, along with pre-orders of the album for donations of over $25, in conjunction with charity

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

after the

April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of Moment magni ...

and subsequent

aftershocks In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousands ...

. This was followed by the release of "Françafrique" on 26 May, and "Dawkins Christ" by

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, hi ...

as the "Hottest Record in the World" on 11 June 2015.

Reception

The album was included at number 33 on ''

Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...

''s top 50 releases of 2015 list.

Track listing

Personnel

Refused * Dennis Lyxzén –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

David Sandström David Sandström (born 2 January 1975) is a Swedish musician best known as the drummer for the hardcore punk group Refused. After Refused first broke up in 1998, he and the other members worked on a project entitled TEXT and released one album. ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Kristofer Steen Kristofer Steen (born June 26, 1974) is a Swedish musician, who was the guitarist for hardcore punk band Refused. He directed '' Refused Are Fucking Dead'', a 2006 documentary charting the demise of Refused in 1998. After Refused's demise, Stee ...

– guitars *Magnus Flagge – bass guitar The Françafrique Children's Choir *Rosie Ford *Grace Darces-Mannings *Elisa-Jane Pasfield *Jack Holman-Brown *Bianca Fonti *Hugo Roles Additional musicians *Church – additional vocals (tracks 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9) * Jennifer Goodridge – additional vocals (tracks 3 and 10) *Brian Grover – additional vocals (tracks 3 and 10) *Adam "Atom" Greenspan – keyboards, programming (tracks 2 and 9) *Robert Columbus – percussion (tracks 3 and 4) *Rasmus Lindelöw – keyboards (tracks 5 and 6) *Dan Regan – horns (tracks 4 and 6) *John Christianson – horns (tracks 4 and 6) *Matt Appleton – horns (tracks 4 and 6) *Per Nordmark – tambourine (track 7) ProductionAlbum Credits

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

– production, mixing *Adam "Atom" Greenspan – assistant producer, engineering *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

– mastering * Shellback – production (tracks 1 and 8) *Michael Ilbert – production, engineering, mixing (tracks 1 and 8) *Nanni Johansson – assistant engineering (tracks 1 and 8) *Tom Coyne – mastering (tracks 1 and 8) *Gustav Lindelöw – additional recording *Jonathon Baker – assistant engineer (The Françafrique Children's Choir) *Christoffer Berg – additional sound design (tracks 3 and 5) *Fredrik Söderberg – paintings *Daniel Andersson – art design

Charts

References

Sources * {{Authority control 2015 albums Refused albums Epitaph Records albums Albums produced by Nick Launay Albums produced by Shellback (record producer)