...the "Cardigans"

Does anybody remember the Swedish band the "Cardigans"? After their latest album "Super Extra Gravity" in 2005 they pretty much disappeared into oblivion, except maybe for 90s revival shows. The band might still be remembered for its contribution to the soundtrack for the movie "Romeo and Juliette", starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio in 1996. They wrote the song "Lovefool", which is not unlikely the most known song by them.

Last night I listened to a couple of songs of "Super Extra Gravity" and was once more struck by the transition the band's music was undergoing through the years. Back in 1994, when their first album "Emmerdale" came out, the music was called "easy listening." When you give songs like "Rise and Shine" or "In The Afternoon" a try you might experience that this label isn't far-fetched. Nevertheless, "Emmerdale", together with their second album "First Band on the Moon" became one my favourite car tapes.

On "Super Extra Gravity" all of the tenderness and the lightness of their early works has vanished. These songs are nothing but sad, starting from "Losing a friend" till "And Then You Kissed Me, Part 2", the sequel to a song with the same name on the predecessor of this album, "Long Gone Before Daylight." Strangely enough, the label "easy listening" might still be considered appropriate for this music, but in a twisted sense. The songs have, like always, a radio-convenient length of about 3'30'' minutes, the melodies are easy to remember, and they do not scare listeners away by strange singing or playing techniques. Though, there is something deeply disturbing in every track. It's a trap: Take the song "Little Black Cloud": It is, if you share my interpretation, a song about somebody who is used to be let down by anybody, but is willed to enjoy every minute till this particular moment. Nina Persson is delivering these lines on the verge of hysteria, which perfectly matches with its despair. "The Cardigans" seems to be on a descent to inescapable pessimism. In my opinion, they started this journey already in 1998 with their biggest hit album "Gran Tourismo", only slightly delayed by "Long Gone Before Daylight."

"Super Extra Gravity" is the double superlative for a force pressing one to the ground. Maybe the "Cardigans" were trapped somewhere by this gravity after or while "Gran Turismo." As far as I know they are still performing on stage, but if there will ever rise a new album from this dark pit?