Basic Element is a Swedish Eurodance hip-hop group formed in 1992. The group returned in 2005 and is still releasing new material.
From Malmö in Sweden the group originally consisted of rapper/singer Peter Thelenius (Petrus), and keyboardist Cesar Zamini, accordion Branko Nuss, and vocalist Zetma Prembo. Later vocalists were Saunet Sparell, Marie Fredriksson (not to be confused with the Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson) and Andrea Myrander. Currently, the band exists out of Peter Thelenius and Jonas Wesslander.
Peter Thelenius and Cesar Zamini started the group in 1992, searched for a singer through the employment office and found Zetma. In 1993, they made a record deal with EMI Records, thus releasing their first single "Move Me". In 1994, "Move Me" was followed up by hits like "The Promise Man", reaching number 1 in the Swedish charts.
In 1995, Zetma left the band (because of her pregnancy) and Saunet Sparell replaced her. The new album "The Ultimate Ride" (including the singles "The Ride" and "The Fiddle") was released. Also, Peter and Caesar started to have disagreements about the band's future, this causing Cesar to leaving the band. Peter has since then continued with the band itself. The group's third album ("Star Tracks") sounded and became more like the 1970s disco. Then Sparell left because, she sais, Thelenius only cared about being famous, so the project was put on ice. In 1997, Peter released a solo album ("Trust Then Pain") under the name "Petrus". In 1998, Basic Element returns with a new album (which includes the original eurodance sound) and Marie Fredriksson (not to be confused with the singer of Roxette) as the new singer.
From 1999, the two members took a long break from Basic Element, but in 2005, the group returned with a remake of their 1995 hit "This must be a dream", and with Mathias Olofson as a new member of the band. In February 2006, they released a new single called "Raise the Gain" with a slightly different sound. On 7 February 2007, the group released its comeback album "The Empire Strikes Back". Later in 2007, Marie Fredriksson left the group and was replaced by Andrea Myrander as a singer and Jonas Wesslander as a rapper. In 2008 another album, called "The Truth", was released. The band has also released a new song called "Got U Screaming" (2010). In January 2011, it was announced on the group's home page that Andrea Myrander had officially left. A few months later, in May 2011, a new single called "Turn Me On" was announced during a concert. It was posted on YouTube on May 27.
In April 2012 Basic Element signed a deal with a Swedish record label called Family Tree and on April 24 a song called “Shades” (featuring Max C and Taz) was posted on YouTube. It was announced that it will be released as a single in June. The group is still lacking a female singer and the song is thus only featuring male vocals. The single is possibly also marking a change of style as it differs significantly from other material released after the comeback in 2005. A YouTube commenter describes it as a mixture of Avicii, Swedish House Mafia and “We Found Love” by Rihanna and Calvin Harris. Vocalist Max C was featured on Swedish House Mafia member Axwell’s single “I Found You”. Basic Element will also be the opening act for Avicii on the yearly “Russens dag” event at Tusenfryd, Norway.