HANS HJELM

Factory Reset KUNGENS LJUD & BILD

Synthrock meets krautrock on Swedish guitarist’s solo album.

Hans Hjelm is the guitarist for psychedelic improv band Kungens Män, but the sound the Swede fashions on his solo debut is altogether more considered and arranged. It even comes with its own set of instructions, and is described as “a means of resetting an agitated or stressed mind to a state of rest and balance”.

But while Factory Reset is certainly hypnotic in places, it’s no bland new age self-help tape. Instead, it applies an 80s synthrock filter to the propulsive krautrock of Kraftwerk, Neu! and Harmonia, with Hjelm’s lopsidedly melodic playing, and live drums from

Gösta Berlings Saga’s

Jesper Skarin, ensuring that the six pieces here never become mere exercises in frigid electronica.

Opener Woods establishes the album’s tone of qualified joyfulness, with an occasional threatening undertow. System Calibration is delicate, tasteful even, until a snaky guitar part injects a hint of darkness. Nothing To Fear is more upbeat, almost edging into Boys Of Summer territory. But the album works best as a whole, with Hjelm not interested in grandstanding solos, but in mixing guitar and electronics together into an immersive journey.