澄澈，水晶般透明无瑕，是Club 8微泛虹彩晕的色泽；平易近人的旋律内蕴灵动的感性，是他们触人心弦的特质。这个一男一女的瑞典组合，总能熨贴受伤的情感。纤甜呢喃的女主唱Karolina Komstedt轻声细诉着种种故事，没有激情，却多了一份释怀似的遥想；Johan Angergard的器乐编排温存而低调，配合着歌声回荡，淡雅的气氲弥漫着空间，承受这样清恬的听觉，总让人连心胸都开阔了起来。Club 8在安抚你的同时，还能体贴地回避着内心深处，盛满幽悒绝望的潘朵拉之盒。 　　 “这张专辑是Club 8至今最好的作品，说是经典也不为过。行事低调的Johan经营独树一格的瑞典清新厂牌Labrador，总是三言两语简单地介绍精心制作/发行的专辑，在这张专辑甫一发行的同时，看到这样信心十足的介绍，不难看出Johan是如何认真地制作，并且对此作品寄予厚望。 经过了七年的历炼，Club 8脱离了青涩纯真的少年情怀，掌握音乐的层次也更加提升。在这张Strangely Beautiful 里面，多样的音乐风格不一而足：“When Lights Go Out”是典型的Saint Etienne式腼腼电气音响；“Stay by My Side”低回缥缈；“Between Walking and Sleeping”是难得的吉他演奏，耽美得令人心碎；“This is the Morinig”精简的醇甜，余韵无穷；俏皮可爱的“The Next Thing You’ll Take”里Karolina游刃有余的轻松诠释，让人直想奔向湖边野餐；Johan则在“Saturday Night Engine”里热力十足的玩起摇滚味十足的synth-pop旋转花车。 总体来说这张专辑的每首歌曲都有清晰的定调，在一贯温暖的调性之下各有风格，不论是旧雨新知，都不能错过这张Club 8的全新力作：《奇异美》。(KKBOX) by Tim Sendra Strangely Beautiful is Club 8's best and most varied record to date. Their last album, Spring Came, Rain Fell, found the group treading water for the most part -- the sound was there but the songs and the imagination were not. On this album, the band's trademark blend of soft indie pop guitars, perky dance beats, melancholy synthesizers, and sweet and innocent vocals remains intact, but Johan Angergard, the chief architect of Club 8's sound, seems to have spent some effort trying to expand their sound a little. The work pays off handsomely and the album sounds full of life and energy. Songs like "I Wasn't Much of a Fight," with its insistent rhythm, spunky vocals from the usually docile Karolina Komstedt, and a very witty guitar line that quotes Little Peggy March's "I Will Follow," or the best song on the record, "Saturday Night Engine," an Angergard-sung dancefloor stomper that struts like ABBA meets Northern soul and features their most exciting and original arrangement to date, bounce with a newfound sense of excitement and focus. Even the songs that sound like Club 8 by-the-numbers -- such as the dreamy, melancholy "Cold Hearts" and the lilting "The Beauty of the Way We're Living" -- sound fresh. Maybe it is because Angergard has written his strongest batch of melodies yet. Other tunes include "The Next Step You'll Take," with its chiming vibes and lovely vocals, or "This Is the Morning," a brief and brokenhearted acoustic ballad sung by Angergard with Komstedt's angelic whisper backing him. It is nice to see a band that had started to flag turn it around so strongly and release the best record of their career. Club 8 fans and indie poppers should be overjoyed.