A stitch in time

Not that we like to deal in stereotypes, but there is something icily cool about the Cardigans. Even on a blisteringly hot day, Nina Persson exudes an unruffled calm while keyboard player Lars-Olof Johansson is full of an affably laid back charm. And, of course, they – and we – have good reason to be cheerful because not that long ago it really wasn’t that clear if we would see The Cardigans round this way ever again.

“There was a point where we didn’t know, where we had to choose between doing it and not doing it,” Nina explains. Lars picks up the story. “I don’t think there was a time when no-one wanted to continue but there was moment when we didn’t know where it was going. We didn’t want to go back to how it was, we needed a new beginning.”

Although they had already reached a fairly serious level thanks to the likes of ‘Lovefool’, it was the Gran Tourismo album that really sent The Cardigans into the world of mega success – and also started to put strains on the five people at the heart of it all.

“At first it was nice, we wanted to get huge,” says Nina. “There was no end to the amount of work we could do and we did say yes to everything. We worked so much that we got tired of music and each other, the industry and everything. I don’t really think it would have been that different if we’d been on a lower level. All people need their weekends now and then, that’s what we didn’t get.”

Exhausted by the rigours of touring Gran Tourismo, the band aborted a planned follow-up album just four months into recording, and, for all intents and purposes, that was that.
The music didn’t totally stop though, with various solo projects including Persson’s acclaimed A Camp and bassist Magnus Sveningsson’s Righteous Boy. It proved to be just what the band needed, as Nina agrees.

“It was helpful for those who did them and those who didn’t, just the fact that they happened,” she reflects. “The very first meeting we had was in a hotel room in Stockholm and some of us hadn’t met for a long time,” she continues. “We had to make a decision there and then, of course some of us sat there hanging our heads and feeling that everything was hopeless. We knew that we could make good music if we want to, we can make a good record – the question was whether we wanted to do it together.

“We really had to start by hanging out to see if that was exciting and would inspire us to make more music. So we rented this over fancy, stupid house by the beach in Los Angeles and spent ten days barbequing and driving around, just not working. After Gran Tourismo we almost played less and talked more and more, doing TV shows and whatever. When we had any time off everyone just wanted to run off and go home.”

Lars remembers their first day of rehearsals. “It was a bit nervous but really exciting as well. We were starting from scratch; it was kind of a funny feeling. It was definitely a new beginning for the band.”

His singer thinks that what had gone before had only made them stronger.

“We had the courage to do that suicidal thing of scrapping everything after four months, we more or less started over. It was really discouraging for a while but after another six months we were really happy that we did it.”

And well they might, for the resulting record, Long Gone Before Daylight, is their finest work to date. As per their original intention, the album has a natural warmth to it that they haven’t shown in a while and an evident positivity. Nina’s lyrics have taken an equal step forward, particularly on ‘And Then You Kissed Me’ with its refusal to address the issue of domestic violence in simple black and white terms.

“I’ve written a few songs on that theme,” she explains. “I always like to write songs about how strangely people behave when it comes to attraction. I didn’t want to take a stand, I can always assure people that I have taken a stand myself, but I think it’s more interesting that even I – with all my opinions – certainly behave really stupidly when it comes to that. You’re a sucker and that will never change. Mostly you are really aware that it’s not healthy but that still doesn’t convince you to go. I find that fascinating.”

Given that is was so far removed from the sound of Gran Tourismo, was she worried that this wouldn’t be what people wanted from The Cardigans?

“It wasn’t something that we were scared of because it’s been the case with every record that we’ve put out. Whenever we’ve played them to the record company they’ve always said that they can’t market it, when we played them ‘Lovefool’ they said no way. It doesn’t make us nervous but I think other people were a bit worried.”

One thing that has changed is that The Cardigans are no longer the only Swedish band on the world stage. With the success of the Hives, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Millencolin, The International Noise Conspiracy etc, Nina says that the domestic music industry is experiencing a new found confidence.

“It’s a little bit ironic because that confidence only comes when America and the UK have confirmed that Swedish music is any good. Swedes have always thought of their own stuff as a little bit embarrassing but then it gets hyped in England and then it’s cool.”

Still, she doesn’t deny that the Swedish rock revolution is inspiring.

“When we were just about to release this record I would read about the Hives’ tours and it would excite me so much, I was ‘damn I want to do that’. To see them doing that was really inspiring for us to continue.”