''Tigerdrottningen'' (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

for ''The Tiger Queen'') is the eleventh studio album by Swedish

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. It was released on 30 April 2014 by

Sonet Records Sonet Records was a jazz, pop and rock record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956. Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980 ...

(

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

). The album was preceded by the lead single " La Belle Epoque" on 12 March 2014. " Var är vi nu?" was released as the album's second single on 25 July 2014. The third single "Mirage" was released on 3 September 2014, with an accompanying video released on the same date. Lyrically, ''Tigerdrottningen'' is more politically charged than previous albums.

Promotion

Three promotional singles were released from ''Tigerdrottningen'' through

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

preceding the album's release: "Skogarna" on 25 April, "Godhet" on 26 April and "Din enda vän" on 27 April 2014.

Critical reception

Anders Nunstedt of ''

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'' wrote: "The songs have a drive that goes in line with the hits Swedish songwriters have delivered to the charts worldwide in recent years. Kent has gone from being a reliable indie band to a pop phenomenon. ''Tigerdrottningen'' has more in common with Katy Perry's ''Roar'' than their debut. ..The melodies don't always make it all the way, but ''Tigerdrottningen'' is an impressive work." Sara-Märta Höglund of ''

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

'' wrote: "At ''Tigerrottningen'' the best of "old" and "new" Kent meet. Closing 'Den andra sidan' is striking in the same way as 'Beskyddaren' from ''Hagnesta Hill'' and with guitar loops that are made to echo out in the summer night. While 'Din enda vän' - which opens with a sample from the film adaptation of ''Bonjour tristesse'' - is representative of where they are now. The programmed sound has been included in the new soundscape - where strong melodies are the focus."

Commercial performance

''Tigerdrottningen'' debuted at number one on the

Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name s ...

on the chart dated 9 May 2014, becoming Kent's tenth consecutive number-one album. The same week the album was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

for 20,000 copies sold. On the chart dated 5 June 2014, the album was certified platinum for 40,000 copies sold.

Track listing

*"Din enda vän" contains excerpts from ''

Bonjour Tristesse ''Bonjour Tristesse'' () is a novel by Françoise Sagan. Published in 1954, when the author was only 18, it was an overnight sensation. The title is derived from a poem by Paul Éluard, "À peine défigurée", which begins with the lines "Adieu ...

''.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Tigerdrottningen''.

Kent

Joakim Berg Herbert Joakim "Jocke" Berg (born 16 March 1970) is a Swedish singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Kent. Biography Berg was born and grew up in Eskilstuna. He moved to Stockholm in 1993 after the fou ...

– music, lyrics, vocals, guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, piano, programming *

Martin Sköld Martin Sköld (born 2 October 1970 in Sparreholm, Södermanland) is a Swedish musician who played bass and keyboards in the Swedish alternative rock band Kent. Alongside lead singer Joakim Berg he was responsible for writing the band's music. ...

– music on track 11, bass, keyboards, programming *

Sami Sirviö Sami Sirviö (born 28 May 1970) is a Sweden Finnish musician and former lead guitarist of the now discontinued Swedish rock band Kent. Biography Sirviö formed Kent in 1990 along with vocalist Joakim Berg, bassist Martin Sköld, drummer Markus ...

– guitar, keyboards, programming *

Markus Mustonen Markus Mikael Randolph Mustonen (born 20 January 1973) is a Sweden Finnish musician who played drums, keyboards and piano in the Swedish alternative rock band Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East En ...

– drums, backing vocals, percussion, keyboards, piano

Additional musicians

*Rudie Edwards – backing vocals on track 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 *Beatrice Eli – vocals on track 9, backing vocals on track 1, 2, 5, 6 * Petra Marklund – backing vocals on track 5, 6, 9, 10 *Camela Leierth – backing vocals on track 5, 6 *

Erik Hassle Kaj Erik Persson Hassle (born 26 August 1988) is a Swedish pop singer and songwriter. His career started in 2008 with his first single, " Hurtful", which eventually reached No. 11 in Sweden and peaked at No. 2 in Denmark. His most successful sin ...

– backing vocals on track 4 * Martin Sandberg – backing vocals on track 2 *Compton Gospel Choir (Yalonda Dancy, Talitha Manor, Katherine Dancy, and Angela Allen) – vocals on track 7

Technical

– producer *Daniel Alexander – producer *Stefan Boman – producer, recording, mixer *Saska Becker – production assistant *Simon Sigfridsson – assistant engineer *Martin Brengesjö – instrument technician *Eric Eylands – studio assistant *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering

Artwork

*Thomas Ökvist – design *Peter Gehrke – photography

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Kent (band) albums 2010s Swedish-language albums Pop rock albums by Swedish artists