''Something to Die For'' is the fourth studio album by the Swedish new wave band

The Sounds The Sounds are a Swedish indie rock band. Formed in Helsingborg in 1998, the group's musical style has been compared to new wave acts such as Blondie, The Cars, the Epoxies and Missing Persons. Their debut album, '' Living in America'', was r ...

. Unlike their previous albums it is dominated by electronic music leaning towards house and synthpop and was completely produced by The Sounds.

Background

On January 6, 2011, the band announced that their next album would be titled ''Something To Die For'', and was scheduled to be released the week of March 29, 2011. Lead singer

Maja Ivarsson Maja Ivarsson (; born 2 October 1979) is a Swedish singer and lead vocalist of the Swedish indie rock band The Sounds. Career The Sounds formed in 1998 in Helsingborg, by childhood friends guitarist and vocalist Felix Rodriguez and bassist Johan ...

has also been confirmed as appearing on

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

band All Time Low's new album '' Dirty Work'' as a guest vocalist on the track "Guts".

Singles

The first single from their new album, "Better Off Dead", was released on February 1, 2011. The track was promoted on their website with a competition, in which anyone could download the sheet music for the song, and submit their own version, to be voted on by fans (the winner's version will be included as the B-side on their upcoming 7"). Everyone who downloaded the sheet music also received the track for free 5 days early. The band released their second single, "Something To Die For", on February 22, 2011. The single was also featured in the American slasher horror film

Scream 4 ''Scream 4'' (stylized as ''SCRE4M'') is a 2011 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. Produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and distributed by Dimension Films, it is the fourth installment in the ''Scream ...

. The third single chosen was "Dance With The Devil". The official music video premiered on May 19, 2011. The album's fourth single was "Yeah Yeah Yeah". The music video premiered on February 16, 2012.

Reception

The album has received mixed reviews. While

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

praised the new dancefloor style and compared the album to a mix of Roxette, U2 and the

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

, reviews from Germany criticised the change in style. The motor.de webzine noted the lack of originality in the album and its mainstream appearance, writing that a part of The Sounds had died with this release. Also Plattentests.de noted the change from earlier Indie rock to mainstream pop and criticised frequent repetitions in themes, an overloaded keyboard sound and a lack of drive. The overly dominant electronic noise and a lack of catchy riffs was marked by a review in ''The Brock Press'' which however called the album "radio-friendly" and compared singer Maja Ivarsson to

Emily Haines Emily Savitri Haines (born 25 January 1974) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the rock band Metric and a member of the musical collective Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she has pe ...

from

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. The German ''Musikexpress'' magazine called the album a "failed attempt to conquer the world of Pop". This review attributed the one-dimensional sound of the album to the fact that ''Something To Die For'' had been produced by The Sounds themselves, but it also lauded the citations of 1980s' musical style like in "Won’t Let Them Tear Us Apart".

Track listing

Soundtracks

The songs "Something to Die For" and "Yeah Yeah Yeah" are featured in the 2011 film ''

'', and included on the film's soundtrack. The track "The No No Song" is also featured in episode 19 of the first season of ''

Hawaii Five-0 Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an Ame ...

''.

External links

*Music video for single

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums The Sounds albums SideOneDummy Records albums