Description
The self-titled debut album by the Swedish synth-pop band Walk on Water was released on the Swedish mainstream label The Record Station in 1989. Also released in the US the following year on Alarma World Music, a division of Frontline Music Group, featuring new cover artwork. The album was produced by Walk On Water and Kaj Erixon (who also did produce the Swedish band Freda). The video for “What’s the Noise?” won a Swedish Grammis in the category Music Video of the Year (“Årets musikvideo”), 1989.
The band members came from two mainstream Swedish synthpop bands, Fake and +1 respectively, that both had major hits in Sweden in the mid-80s. The band independently released another album in 1994, a more worship oriented record entitled Så länge jag lever (“As Long As I Live”).
‘WOW’ is the inaugural release of “Alarma World Music,” a division of Frontline Records, set up to import the best Christian music from around the globe. They couldn’t have picked a better disc to introduce the label than this top-notch debut from a quartet of young Swedes.
WOW is a dance/pop ensemble, reminiscent of groups such as Duran Duran and Cutting Crew. The band features crisp, stacked vocals, and layers of synths and other digitally-produced sound effects. One recurring background motif is the sound of water, heard on several of the disc’s ten tracks. Although the band has achieved mainstream success in its native land, it has not done so at the expense of direct, lyrics. Occasionally however, the words border on trite, such as “He died and He cried,” one line from «Prayer». But the band generally acquits itself nicely in the lyric department. For instance, on the funky track «Someone», lead vocalist Tot observes “You see shadows/ Tell me you hear voices/ They are screaming/ Shouting out the choices/ And the blinds to the room in your heart are drawn down.” Or the slow, gospel-flavored «When the Serpent Rules» – “There’s a god of this age/ And he knows in his rage/ That the end of his reign/ Is drawing near.” You might almost mistake that for a couplet composed be a heavy metal band! About the heaviest WOW gets is some scorching lead guitar work by Flord on «Time». Mostly, they stick to a medium to uptempo, synth-driven groove that wears easy on the ears.
It’s always neat to be the first one on your block to discover something new. Pick up on WOW, and you’ll be among the first in this country to discover the best Swedish export since Roxette. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, October 1990]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/walk-on-water/1105143942)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “To Walk On Water” – 3:49
A2. “What’s The Noise?” – 4:12
A3. “Call My Name” – 4:08
A4. “Prayer” – 4:58
A5. “Yeah Yeah Yeah” – 3:48
Side Two
B1. “North Sea Town” – 4:30
B2. “Time” – 3:21
B3. “Someone” – 3:38
B4. “When The Serpent Rules” – 3:56
B5. “There Is A Morning” – 4:27
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by The Record Station, with the CD edition features a bonus track; “Bird-Song” (17:48).
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