Refused’s new album Freedom (Epitaph Records) is currently available for streaming, downloading and for purchase in a multitude of luxury packages. All it took was a fan backstage to tell them how bad of an idea it was to work on new songs. Perhaps it was the challenge that all artists with similar histories face, the challenge of defining (then re-defining) their personal myth. Or maybe it was the dollar signs in their eyes, or the confidence bestowed on them from the largest audiences they’ve ever played to. In a statement accompanying the album announcement a few months ago, drummer David Sandström said that, "Nobody wanted us to fuck with the image of the band who makes a great album and splits up. Nobody wanted us to dilute it. That actually provoked us."
Freedom is a mix of old fashioned political vitriol, hoaky mid-tempo riffing and an awkwardly placed pop sheen. It is now clear that the shape of punk to come, was a conversation that started and ended with that album, that died when they died. Gone is the wild rhythmic experimentation of Shape. Although Freedom still incorporates shades of their aggressive past, it also features hints of a streamlined, 4/4 pop; a lazy execution of a punk ethos, and insipidly contrarian in its attempt to be bold. “Elektra” the lead single, and “366” are collaborations with Shellback – a Swedish songwriter, producer and former headbanger responsible for Top 40 hits like Taylor Swift’s “We’re are Never Ever Getting Back Together”.