The Swedish group Vacuum (“Vacuum”) is, of course, an incredibly popular project of the 90s of the last century that conquered not only Europe, but also all post-Soviet countries. An attractive androgenic type soloist, unusual music and unbroken texts - all this distinguished the group from many other bands, and its songs and videos invariably ended up at the top of the charts. Despite the fact that the 90s are long gone, the group "Vacuum" has changed its composition, style and sound, it still creates and delights fans with new singles.
History of creation
Back in 1994, a member of the Army of lovers, Alexander Bard, as well as composer and producer Anders Wallbeck, conceived a new project, the main "chip" of which would be instrumental electronic symphonic music. It was planned to call it Vacuum Cleaner, which literally translated as "vacuum cleaner". But on reflection, the creators decided to leave only the first word for the overall harmony and progressiveness.
At the planning stage of the project, Bard and Wallbeck decided to add vocals and began to squeak for a suitable soloist. The initial contender for this place was Vasa Big Mani. And although this candidacy was eventually abandoned, the artist later still collaborated with the group as a songwriter. In 1996, Bard left the Army of lovers and was closely engaged in the implementation of a new project. Then he met with Matthias Lindblumom at one of the club concerts of the little-known band Ceycamore Leaves, in which he was a vocalist. Impressed by the voice data of Matthias, Bard invited him to his project, and a little later he invited Maria Shipchenko, a Swedish-born Ukrainian-born keyboardist, to the team. That is how the group “Vacuum” appeared (photo of the collective is presented below), which soon conquered the musical Olympus.
Swift start
A few months after the formation of the collective, namely in December 1996, the world heard their first creation. The single I breath instantly soared to the top of the European charts, and the video for this song became the best the very next year, which was very fruitful for the musicians.
In February 1997, the first album of the Vacuum group, called The Plutonium Cathedral, appeared on the shelves of music stores. Against the backdrop of electronic pop sound, elements of symphonic music, an abundance of orchestral arrangements, and also the soloist's opera vocals in some compositions stood out clearly. All this favorably distinguished the new disc, so it is not at all surprising that it was a resounding success. After the release of their second single, Pride In My Religion, Vacuum went on their first European tour.
Confession
Without resting on their laurels, the team continued to work hard and prepare material for the release of the second album. Already in early 1998, a completely new song was released and a video for it, which immediately became one of the leaders on MTV. Tonnes Of Attraction is another masterpiece that created Vacuum. The music group even won the SEMA Swedish Electronic Music Award for him. The next track, Let The Mountain Come To Me, was very warmly received, followed by the second tour, which included European countries, Russia and Ukraine.
Post-soviet phenomenon
The Swedish group Vacuum was extremely surprised by the fact of its incredible popularity in the territory of the former Soviet Union, because very few albums and singles were officially sold in Russia. Nevertheless, the performances of the team were accompanied by an unprecedented full house. As it turned out, more than 90% of all Vacuum records sold in post-Soviet countries, and these are millions of copies, were pirated products. In terms of commercial benefits, this situation was not in favor of the group, but thanks to mass cheap musical production in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, if not all, then very many people knew about the Swedish team, and the popularity of Vacuum here was much higher than even in Europe .
Recognizable
In the second album, the musicians wanted to slightly change the sound so that the main idea was perceived in a new way. In this regard, the release of the record was postponed several times. But the album was nevertheless released in 1998 in its original form in Russia and Italy under the name Seance At The Chaebol. The first two studio versions were in the classic spirit of “Vacuum”: European pop music and, at the same time, the socio-political and religious themes of the songs. And although the main genre of the group is synth-pop, such a set was somewhat unusual for this musical direction.
Appearance also stood out - thanks to the efforts of the English designer, the Vacuum group was dressed in black minimalist leather suits, the musicians' nails were covered with black varnish, and the hairstyles were incredibly stylish. All this made the team recognizable, it was their "trick". The concerts of the group also could not be called spectacular, they were rather static.
Black line
The group’s ideological mastermind Alexander Bard soon lost interest in his brainchild and in 1999 left the team, motivating his action with a desire to engage in literary activities and the new dance project Alcazar. Together with two invited session musicians, the group “Vacuum” played a tour in Russia, but something had to be done further. Left without Bard, and, accordingly, without new songs, Matthias teamed up with Wallbeck to write new material. In the same period, the Stockholm Records, which had already been in conflict since the release of the second album, broke the contract with the group due to the lack of prospects for the team without Bard.
The popularity of Vacuum in Eastern Europe was no longer profitable. In 1999, the group signed a contract with the new company and released the Icaros mini-album. And in 2000, the second album reissued and supplemented with new compositions was released in Sweden immediately from three different companies under the name Culture Of Night. But without good advertising, it turned out to be a failure, and the Vacuum group announced the temporary cessation of its existence. Marina Shipchenko left the project, citing the need to focus on her family and art gallery, and a little later joined Bard in his new group - BWO.
Like a phoenix from the ashes
For two years there was absolutely no news. In Europe, but not in Russia, everyone has already begun to forget about the once successful team. However, in May 2002, a new single of the seemingly forgotten project under the symbolic name Starting (Where the story ended) suddenly appeared in music stores. The Vacuum group, whose composition has been reduced to two people, Matthias Landblum and Andres Wallbeck, has indicated that now it will follow a completely new path. The music was updated, the image of the collective changed, everything went to the point where the audience would hear something new and unusual.
True, returning to the origins, the musicians translated and supplemented the album Culture Of Night, releasing it in the Scandinavian countries. The parts of the former participant of Maria Shipchenko were now performed by the guitarist at concerts. The group decided to change the theme of songs, moving away from sociopolitics in the direction of personal experiences, which two new singles of 2004 - Fools Like Me and They Do It, perfectly demonstrated. And already in September of the same year, the updated team presented to the audience the album Your Whole Life Is Leading Up to This with electronic, trance and techno sound. Following each year, the group "Vacuum" consistently pleased fans with a new track until the release of the supplemented album in Germany. Recently, there have been rumors about a new disc, but so far no supporting information has been received from the musicians.
Fruitful union
The creative tandem Wallbeck / Landblum is working not only for the benefit of his own group. Musicians write songs for many artists and bands, including European artists such as Tarja Turunen, Marcella Detroit, Cinema Bizarre and Monrose, and even Russian singer Alexei Vorobyov. The talented composers and pianist Michael Clanabitnig also worked very fruitfully together, however, the result of their work is available only on the Internet. In recent years, musicians often appear with concerts in Ukraine and participate in local talent shows.