Meadow Music blog
Pär Berlund on the album Shadows:
It takes a lot to be able to maintain the listener’s interest throughout 19 tracks, but I would say that they have really succeded in this. More so, I feel that the tension and the interest of the album step up the further I listen.
Read the full review here
Zero Music Magazine
Scored 8 out of 10!
Robert Ryttman on the album Shadows (in Swedish):
Shadows innehåller femton låtar plus fyra remixer, vilket är lite för mycket för att det ska hålla rakt igenom. Men när plattan är som bäst är den helt enkelt skitbra. En sådan här debut lär inte bli lätt att följa upp, men jag hoppas att Strangers In Wonderland fixar det också.
Read the full review here
nextbigthing music blog and podcast
On the album Shadows:
Deep into the second track, `Every Day, Every Night’ the listener is made aware that hiding behind this perfect pop electronic funk (edging into new wave) even a simple love song has its own fears and darkness.
Shooting then into a slow blues, these Strangers show their wonderland can be full of a fragile and pulsing desire. This Wonderland is seductive and slightly dirty and not always as safe as the sugar coated music sighs would suggest. But who wants safety when the pleasure is in the hidden ragged beauty of the needs and the dreaming of this band.
We come now to what is my favourite track, `Still Standing` a song that distills essence of the ghosts in the radio, the lost spirits caught among the shifting airwaves, this glides and swirls , uneasy yet powerful.
More cool slightly on the edge tunes follow, the sound of what should be on the nations pop charts, the alternative strokes within are subtly painted and without sacrificing the catchy, there are enough twists to comfort the listener who wants a bit more.
This is the kind of album that makes those people who categorise tunes for ipods tremble, cause it slinks from style to style, keeping though, the essence, the DARKNESS of the band.
Mention must be made of the Chuck Dread remixes included on the CD, adding a neon dance floor glow and kapow to the tunes, a late night strobe shiver, bring even more magic to this strange Pop-land.
Read the article here
B-sides music blog
On the track Addicted:
Strangers In Wonderland have a very familiar sound - so familiar I first thought that Addicted was a 90s radio song or cover thereof. Wrong on both counts. Addicted is the product of two very hard working Swedes. While none of the other songs on their site capture the same magic for me, they hew close to the source. Worth checking out to see if they’re your cup of tea.
Soul of Rock ‘n’ Roll music blog
From the article Eclectic Rock from Sweden: Strangers in Wonderland Catch My Attention
…Some bands have a way of switching and blending styles while still sounding like the same bunch of musicians. I would say that these bands are the more successful ones as obviously they have found some way to put their own souls into their music… that’s what keeps them sounding similar no matter what style they appropriate. Other bands even incorporate multiple genres into their own sound so that when they take their music in new directions not only does it still sound like the same musicians, but it sounds like a natural direction not like say… a blues band playing jazz, or a rock band playing reggae etc.
From what I’ve heard so far, I think Strangers in Wonderland is one of these bands with their own sound that can pursue all their different stylistic directions without losing that core sound and style.
…Perhaps the most instantly noticeable is the stellar vocal talents of Asa Girgensohn. Her voice is both soulfully and gritty, but sonorous at the same time, a perfect match for very authentic and honest lyrics, which she belts out with such confidence. Her compatriot Lasse Thomasson is no slouch either crafting some very complex arrangements, and creating massive, almost “wall of sound” type soundscapes.
duggup music blog
On the track Behind The Mask
And today we are back in Sweden, Strangers In Wonderland is an old school straight ahead rock band. They rely on good songs and good arrangements and it helps that Åsa Girgensohn has a killer voice. Sort of a polite Maggie Bell without the gravel. Lasse Thomasson shares the arrangement and playing bits.
“Behind The Mask” is a great little rocker. About half way through my perverse brain started thinking “Hmm I wonder what Jim Steinman would have done with this?” and then the break kicked in and I decided that they were doing just fine without him. Some nice guitar at the end.