The Theander Expression Chaos, Dreams & Love Pride & Joy Music Release: 19 September 2025

 

Quoting CS Lewis is not the way you’d normally expect an album review to start I grant you, but that’s exactly the line that appears in my head every time I read a press release that alludes to a new album having a sound akin to the halcyon days of AOR.

 

Here’s the thing though; it’s not because I’m a grumpy old muso who turns his nose up at new music. It’s because time and tide has taught me that trying to capture that classic AOR experience almost always leads to disappointment as most fall into the trap of thinking it’s just a sound to be replicated. Is the sound important? Absolutely it is, but that’s only part of the experience. What so many miss is that it needs to be evocative, it should be tethered to truth, and it absolutely must illicit an emotional response, whether that be a tear, a melancholy memory or flat-out whole-body goosebumps. Ladies and gentlemen, Chaos, Dreams & Love does it all…and so very much more.        

 

The Theander Expression is the vehicle for Swedish guitarist Andrée Theander, and by guitarist what I really mean is multi-instrumentalist, and by multi-instrumentalist what I actually mean is uber talented singer-songwriter. Put simply the man is a sonic smorgasbord of talent so if you’re an AOR fan and only indulge in one ‘new’ album a year then I implore you to make it Chaos, Dreams & Love, it even comes complete with a few guest vocalists in Andrew Freeman, Chandler Mogul and August Rauer.

 

Now, this is normally the point where I’d give you a track-by-track rundown but honestly, I don’t want to ruin the experience by failing to adequately describe just how stellar this album is. From start to finish it’s the most luscious, layered, intelligent and classy collection of songs I’ve heard in a very, very long time and it’s smoother than silk on shoeshine. If absolutely pushed I would nudge you lovingly in the direction of the utterly glorious ‘Too Many Miles, Too Little Time’ the hook laden ‘I’m Moving On’ and the acoustic apricity of ‘You Left in the Middle of the Night’ but honestly, there’s not a single element of filler on here.

 

Somebody needs to check Theander’s studio for a wardrobe, a witch and a lion as The Theander Expression are citing the deep magic and it’s so utterly glorious we may need to change the meaning of AOR again…

Adult-Orientated Rock

Aslan-Orientated Rock

 

Much love

SS