'You're getting the good Swedish stuff'
By Chris Nixon
August 12, 2004
San Diego Union-Tribune
Since the insidiously infectious music of ABBA exploded into the worldwide market during the 1970s, Sweden's main musical exports have consisted of vacuous, flavor-of-the-month pop. From Roxette to Ace of Base, the Nordic country tucked between Finland and Norway historically has churned out Top 40 fodder whose credo is "all-style, no substance."
Underneath all the spangles and pomp of Sweden's pop exports, a real rock scene developed. The current wave of Swedish rock bands – including the Hives, the Soundtrack of Our Lives, Sahara Hotnights and the Hellacopters – shed the sugary fluff for more significant riffs, more substantial melodies and tougher lyrics.
Spanning the gap between shiny pop and gritty rock, the Cardigans opened the door for legitimate rock bands to find audiences outside of Sweden.
"I'm not saying we had anything to do with it, but it did seem that when we started to get outside the borders of this country – maybe eight or nine years ago – things started to change," says guitarist and primary songwriter Peter Svensson from his home in Stockholm. "More real bands started to be heard outside of Sweden, not just the record company product.
"The record companies are really slow and dumb. If one band is breaking or making it, they immediately start to look for similar things. There are a lot of great Swedish bands that have been coming out over the last five years. I think you're lucky, because you're getting the good Swedish stuff."
With breakout hits like 1996's massive single "Love Fool" and 1998's "My Favorite Game," the quintet cracked the American market with its sweet pop melodies and bittersweet lyrics. Accessible and challenging, Svensson's thick orchestrated compositions along with Nina Persson's sweet sultry vocals and tough lyrics combined for a potent songwriting duo.
After recording four albums and almost a decade of constant touring since its 1992 inception, the Cardigans was burnt out on the music industry and the expectations of being recording artists.
"We needed to take a really long break after 'Gran Turismo,' " says Svensson. "We had been touring constantly and making albums for seven or eight years. Before the break, we never really had time to just sit down and get distance from all the things we had been doing. It was like a train going really fast. By taking that break, all the members of the band had some time to slow things down and get a life outside of the band."
The media's tendency to focus on one band member caused problems within the band, but not the jealousy one might think. Being an attractive female lead singer fronting five guys, Persson received the majority of the spotlight when the Cardigans became pop stars. In reality, none of the Cardigans wanted to assume the band's leadership role when it came to media coverage.
"I think our problem is that Nina is not very comfortable with that situation," admits Svensson. "It's not like the rest of the band is feeling 'Why don't we get the attention?' I think our problem is that no one in the band really wants the attention. And Nina is probably the one that wants it the least. Whenever the band is in the spotlight, she's the one they're going to pull out and do separate interview with and separate photos. She really wants just to be a fifth of the band."
The members took 18 months away from the Cardigans to regroup before reuniting to record 2004's "Long Gone Before Daylight," a cohesive collection of 14 songs. The break allowed the band to enjoy the process of recording and touring again.
"I think when we got back together, it seemed much more sincere," says Svensson. "It was more important just to be really good friends in a band rather than trying to be a part of a crazy industry and trying to create singles and selling albums. We tried to focus on the stuff that made us start up the band from the beginning. So, it's been a little bit different this time around."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
