From Sweden With Love #2 - This Vision

The two men behind This Vision, singer Marcus Lantz and synth player/programmer Christian Hartmann, had known each other since their early teens as they grew up on the same street in a suburb outside the southern Swedish city Helsingborg. Both had been playing music for a couple of years when they decided to start playing together for the first time at the age of 17 and 16 respectively. During about seven years they played various kinds of rock and pop together in different band constellations but it was not until 2005 that they first started to experiment with synthesizers. At the beginning of 2006 the members in their current band, Stones Cry Out, decided to go separate ways but Marcus – at that time playing drums – and Christian decided to carry on with their passion for music and formed This Vision. Knowing little about what type of direction their music would take, Marcus took the role as the singer and they started to experiment with synthesizers and computer programming to re-make some of their old songs.

Instead of the usual way of making arrangements in the rehearsal room, everything was made directly during the recording stage. Even though this made the writing process very long, the first EP was released in 2007. The music, electronic synth-pop with a touch of both the 80’s and the present time was were well-received by both the public and critics who predicted a great future for the band.

Instead of taking the music to the live scene, the band decided to focus on recording its first studio album. All work was made by the band members themselves, from recording to producing and mixing, and their close friend Emil Svensson soon joined them to record the guitars. For about a year they travelled between their home studio – where most of the recordings were made – and the studio were the recording of vocals, guitars and mixing took place. After a lot of intense work with the final details during the summer, the self-titled album “This Vision” was finished in July 2009 and the schedule release was set to October 19. The sound of the ten track album could be described as melancholic and dreamy electronic pop with a touch of the 80's but with a modern production.

RIYL: Thieves Like Us, Gentle Touch, Arthur and Martha