Rydholm Säfsund / Kaleidoscope

The sensational debut of the Swedish rock band named Promotion happened in 1997 with the Toto-meets-Chicago vein album titled “Not For Sale”. Anders Rydholm’s name was listed on my favourite musicians then. In 2000, the band was obliged to change its name demanded by then label, thus they were known as Grand Illusion and released several albums but regrettably they lost great horns due to the nature of the melodic rock label colour, whilst maintaining Anders Rydholm's classy melodies intact from the Promotion years. Grand Illusion released 6 albums in total from 2001 to 2011 when the album “Prince Of Paupers” was released.

The other good Swedish band in late 2000’s / 2010’s is Robert Säll‘s “Work Of Art”. Lars Säfsund is the singer of the band. Anders Rydholm contributed to their second album “In Progress” in 2011. Whilst Worrk Of Art released the album “Exhibits” in 2019, Lars was welcomed as the guest singer for the second Champlin Williams Friestedt album lead track “Runaway Dancer”.

It was 2021 when the Grand Illusion met Work Of Art. The new duo project by Anders and Lars materialized under the name of Art of Illusion. The super duo released the crafted debut album “X Marks The Spot”.
In April 2024, the super Swedish duo is back with this album “Kaleidoscope” featuring gorgeous horn sections featuring Chuck Findley who contributed many Toto’s albums, and Nick Lane who’s. often filled in with the group Chicago for the past 20+ years.
Really feeling good listening all through the album probably because of horn sections, I think.
According to the press release, the guys comments: “Some people wonder why we have chosen to use a new name, Rydholm and Säfsund, for the release of the coming songs and the reason for that is that the new music comes with slight change of direction for this album. Not as heavy as the Art of Illusion songs and more funky. It even has horns on it. So hard to describe music but if we try, it’s a mixture between melodic rock, west coast and a little bit of pop. We just hope that the new music will be reviewed on its own and for what it is. It’s so easy to compare with our old stuff, but as a signal that it’s intentionally different, we have chosen to release it under our names instead of using Art of Illusion.”

Although I have not added new album review here on my “Adult Contemporary Music In Japan” Museum, I cannot ignore this fantastic effort. All tracks on this albums are superb. Highly recommended one. Track 2 “Hey You” reminds me of either mid-80’s high tech funky Westcoast tune, or Ole Børud’s soulful funk pop. Track 4 “Seven Signs of Love” is another killer piece that seems to be some influence from Japanese 80’s city pop music. Dirty Loops vein “Don’t Make Me Do it” follows.
Hard to say which track is my personal most favourite one, but track 7 “4th of July” might be the candidate. The title track “Kaleidoscope” appeals strongly to me, the horn section arrangement would be that of powerful “Stones of Sisyphus” of Chicago’s. The album closing track “Love Will Find A Way” is the atomic bomb for me that recalls Pages. What an album!

Release: 12 April, 2024
Label: GodisPåScen, Germany (GPS2401, distributed by Pride & Joy Music, Germany)

Tracks:
1. Now And Forever
2. Hey You
3. What’s Not To Love
4. Seven Signs of Love
5. Don’t Make Me Do It
6. 4th of July
7. The Bet
8. Sara’s Dream
9. Bucket List
10. The Plains of Marathon
11. Kaleidoscope
12. Love Will Find A Way

Producers: Anders Rydholm and Lars Säfsund

Rydholm Säfsund:
Anders Rydholm: Bass, Guitars,Keyboards
Lars Säfsund: Leas and Background Vocals, Synthsizers

Musians:
Drums: Frank Nilsson
Bass: Matt Bissonette
Guitars: Kristian Larsen, Robert Säll, Tim Pierce, Joel Kibble, Pelle Holmberg, Ola af Trampe, Larry Salzman
Keyboards: Stefan Olofsson, Joel Kibble
Sax: Wojtek Goral, Håkan Malmberg, Gary Herbig
Trumpet: Tom Walsh, Mike Davies, Chuck Findley, Charlie Davies, Joackim Wickström
Fluegelhorn : Tom Walsh
Trombone: Nichol Thompson, Fredrik Wiklund, Nick Lane
Percussion: Nicolas Lazo Zubieta, Larry Salzman, Pablo Cepeda, Martin VerDonk
Background Vocals: Joel Kibble

#Promotion #GrandIllusion #WorkofArt