Since the day we formed SHM, our dream was to make a studio album, an album that would stand for who we are as individuals and artists. Since our reunion we decided to fulfill our dream, we would embark on a sonic adventure that would take us to a new world, a world of free thoughts, limitless ideas and space for expression. This is us, this is our world, this is Paradise Again.
In February 2021,
Swedish House Mafia's art director Alexander Wessley and their manager Max Holmstrand shared videos of the supergroup working on new music.[9] One month after the videos were published, the supergroup parted ways with their former record label
Columbia Records.[10] In April, the supergroup signed with manager
Wassim "Sal" Slaiby, hinting at a potential collaboration with his longtime client
the Weeknd.[11] On July 15, Swedish House Mafia announced that they have signed to
Republic Records and that they intended to release their debut studio album, Paradise Again, later that year. Following the announcement, the supergroup released the album's lead single "
It Gets Better".[12] On 19 July, the supergroup released the album's second single "Lifetime" with
Ty Dolla Sign and
070 Shake.[13] The album's third single "
Moth to a Flame" with the Weeknd, was released on 22 October.[14]
On 10 February 2022, Swedish House Mafia announced that they have finished recording Paradise Again.[15] On 3 March, the supergroup released the album's fourth single "Redlight" with
Sting, and revealed that Paradise Again is now scheduled to be released on 15 April.[16] The supergroup revealed the album's tracklist on 7 April.[17] On the same day, they revealed the artwork, stating that each particle in the artwork represents "a minute in the life" of the group, marking it as a timeline from the day the group was formed leading up to the album's release.[18]
Promotion
Swedish House Mafia performed a medley of "It Gets Better" and "Lifetime" on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and on the pre-show at the
2021 MTV Video Music Awards.[19][20] In October 2021, to celebrate the release of "Moth to a Flame", the supergroup hosted the twentieth episode of the Weeknd's
Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori.[citation needed] The same month, the supergroup announced their first tour in ten years, the Paradise Again World Tour, which is scheduled to commence in July 2022.[21]
In January 2022, Swedish House Mafia was confirmed to headline the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at an unspecified date.[22] In April, ten days before the festival began, the supergroup were announced to be taking over
Kanye West's Sunday spot after he dropped out, while also revealing that they would be headlining the show alongside the Weeknd.[23][24]
Paradise Again received generally positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 69 based on five reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25]
The Groove Cartel commended the album, calling it "a 360° exploration of electronic music".[30] Ali Shutler of NME praised Swedish House Mafia for taking risks "rather than sounding like a vintage group struggling to find their identity" and that the album has the trio "flexing their musical and emotional muscles across 17 brilliant, fearless and often surprising tracks. The kings of dance music are very much back".[28]
Track listing
All tracks are produced by
Swedish House Mafia and Desembra, except where noted.
"Calling On" contains a sample of "In the Garden", written and as performed by
Cassietta George.
"It Gets Better" contains a sample of "Lightning's Girl", written by
Lee Hazlewood, as performed by
Nancy Sinatra; and a sample of "One More Time", written by Al Mack, as performed by Divas of Color featuring Evelyn "Champagne" King.
"Redlight" contains an interpolation of "
Roxanne", written by
Sting, as performed by
The Police.
^Moen, Matt (23 April 2022).
"Swedish House Mafia finds Paradise Again". Papermag. Archived from
the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022. Paradise Again sees Swedish House Mafia experimenting with even more genres and styles. From the bass heavy techno of the Gessaffelstein-esque "Mafia"...
^Moen, Matt (23 April 2022).
"Swedish House Mafia finds Paradise Again". Papermag. Archived from
the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022. Paradise Again sees Swedish House Mafia experimenting with even more genres and styles. From the bass heavy techno of the Gessaffelstein-esque "Mafia"...