UNION MAC – Lost In Attraction

Lost In Attraction is the first release from Union Mac. Union Mac consists of the two Swedes Kristoffer Lagerström (ex-Spin Gallery) and Mikael Klevengård. The musical style of the album is synth-oriented A.O.R. Though none of them play bass, they play the bass lines on the keyboards. The synth bass gives the album a very typical 80s imprint and a more majestic feel.

The starter, “Bring Me In,” is a classic A.O.R. song with a catchy guitar riff, backed by massive keyboards and melodious vocals. The chorus is catchy and you might suddenly find yourself humming along. The guitar solo isn’t bad either, but it kind of drowns in the mix, which is quite a shame.

“I Can’t Believe” starts with a lot of keyboards and a stumping guitar and builds up to some massive riffing by the guitars. The chorus is grandiose and very catchy. Also, in this song the guitar solo isn’t mixed right. It starts great, but when Klevengård plays those low notes, you’ll have trouble hearing what he’s playing.

“Fading” is a nice ballad. It starts with keyboard/piano and Lagerström’s beautiful vocals. He really sings this one with passion. When the rest of the band enters, Lagerström is accompanied by Klevengård’s guitar playing, which is kind of nice. The guitar solo starts with one guitar, but goes quickly over to dual. The sound on this track is better than the previous, maybe due to the fact that they put two guitars in it and wanted to focus on that aspect. Anyhow, the song is beautiful.

The songs are strong and melodic, yet too similar to each other. The vocals are nice and have the typical 80s style that you’ll find in bands like Whitesnake. The production isn’t the best on the market today. It seems they’ve put too much focus on the keyboards and vocals. The guitar solos that tend to be great at times, often drown in the mix and seem unclear. The drums, however, sound good. It sounds like they’ve put a lot of effort into this album, and you can clearly hear that on the record. You’ll find a lot of cool songs here, but the overall result is an album filled with songs that sound very much the same. Just hope they can put more variation into their next album.

Lineup

Kristoffer Lagerström – Lead and Backing Vocals, Keyboards
Mikael Klevengård – Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Keyboards
Imre Daue – Drums

Tracklist

1. Bring Me In
2. A Live
3. Lost In Attraction
4. I Am
5. Fake
6. Left To Need
7. I Can’t Believe
8. Marias Grace
9. Fading
10. Pain
11. Make Pretend
12. Outside
13. The Wale