DIORAMA A DIFFERENT LIFE ALBUM ACCESSION RELEASE: APRIL, 2007 REVIEW: MAY 28, 2007

I have been proven wrong. Turning my back on Diorama turned out be a major mistake. "A Different Life" brings Torben Wendt and posse back into my heart. A step up in tempo and a delightful balance of strangeness and typically dramatic Diorama hit bliss have returned to a band stuck in quicksand.

Still intact is the stylistic approach, packed with drama and grandeur, but there is plenty of straight forward electropop and quirky minimalistic outtakes here as well. My love for "Screenface", for instance, defies all logic as it builds primarily on repetitive distortion, but the hypnotic rhythm has me smiling like a raving psychopath. Single release "Synthesize Me", a bombastic club pop hit, marks the other end of the impressive spectrum that is "A Different Life".

If you lost interest after the overwhelming album duo of "Pale and "Her Liquid Arms", now is the time to jump back on to the Diorama train. More focused and sharply executed than its predecessors, it delivers on all levels.

NIKLAS FORSBERG

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