''A Family Affair'' is the debut studio album by Swedish singer-songwriter Mikael Bolyos. The album was issued on CD on 14 June 2007 by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, in conjunction with Bolyos' own independent record label Mikael Bolyos Music. It features the vocals of Bolyos' wife

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist and painter, who was best known internationally as the lead vocalist of pop rock pop duo, duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. ...

(part of the duo

Roxette Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second a ...

), and

Mats Ronander Mats Ronander (born 1 April 1954 in Sundsvall, Sweden) is a Swedish rock musician, guitar player, producer and composer. Biography Ronander was born in Sundsvall, but grew up in Örebro. At the age of sixteen he succeeded Peps Persson as singer i ...

. The record received mixed reviews upon release, and failed to appear on the

Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

. "When the Lord Is About to Come" and "Me & My Guitar" were released as singles.

Critical reception

Håkan Persson Håkan Persson is a Swedish music journalist, born in Stockholm, 1 June. He has been the host and producer of P3 Rock, a radio show on P3, Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio ...

of ''

Borås Tidning ''Borås Tidning'' is a Swedish language daily newspaper published in Borås, Sweden. History and profile ''Borås Tidning'' was established qua the Borås weckoblad on 1 September 1826. The paper has its headquarters in Borås. It had two pre ...

'' said: "Mikael Bolyos has more or less chosen to stand in the shadow of his better half, Marie Fredriksson. He makes

sixties File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz A ...

-coloured drudgery and throw-away-pop, and his wife – who sings lead and choir – tries to take up as little space as possible. Quite frankly, there's nothing else to say bout the album" A writer for ''

Expressen ''Expressen'' (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden, the other being '' Aftonbladet''. ''Expressen'' was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or "''Expressen'' to your rescue". ...

'' commented on the album

leaking A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a tank or a ship's hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can enter the container. Leaks are usuall ...

several months before its release date: "The record company in crisis wants to blame the pirates. Come on. Isn't the real crisis that the album simply doesn't hold up? Who wants to hear

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live ...

with a singer who sucks? Or

without real songs? Probably no one. With the help of extremely competent people, including his wife Marie Fredriksson and Mats Ronander, Micke Bolyos has recorded an album that not even the kindest of free listeners will waste

hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

space on."

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''A Family Affair''. * Mikael Bolyos – lead vocals, background vocals, instrumentation, production and mixing * By Grace –

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

– lead vocals, background vocals * Lennart Östlund – mixing *

– lead vocals, harmonica * Alar Suurna – mixing

References

External links

Official site

Studio site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Family Affair 2007 debut albums