This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Isola, of course, is the beginning of isolation. That is something you might expect rural Swedish quintet Kent to know a little about.
One listen to the icy, shoegazing pop of their debut North American release is sure to remove all doubt. In fact, with their glistening guitars and swirling synths, these melodically languid tales of melancholy and infinite sadness can be heard as an aural equivalent to their home countryside (not to mention ours): Airy, snow-white and wide-open — and also vaguely unsettling. This is what they mean by splendid isolation.
