Elegant Machinery

Drawing inspiration from early-1980s British synth acts including Depeche Mode and the Human League, the Swedish trio Elegant Machinery enjoyed moderate success throughout the 1990s as a synth-pop outfit before dissolving toward the end of that decade and resurfacing ten years afterward as a cult attraction. The group, formed in 1988, features Robert Enforsen on vocals together with Richard Jomshof on synthesizer and Leslie Bayne on synthesizer and drums. Their first recording appeared in 1990 as the 7-inch single Safety in Mind on the Electronic Beat Association label. After moving to the Swedish imprint Energy Rekords, Elegant Machinery delivered their debut album Degraded Faces in 1991, whose single Process became an unexpected hit in Spain and led to a licensing arrangement there with Kong Records. Further releases comprised the albums Shattered Grounds in 1993 and Yesterday Man in 1996, plus the singles Hard to Handle, Repressive Thoughts, Watching You, Myself with You, and Words of Wisdom, until the best-of collection A Decade of Thoughts in 1998 prompted the band’s initial split. They reconvened in 2005 for concerts throughout Latin America and Europe, which in turn secured a deal with the German label Out of Line Music and yielded the new single Feel the Silence in 2008, with a full-length album to follow.