Long Gone Before Daylight [Extra tracks]

Nina's new love of the country style which she displayed very well without the other Cardigans on her A Camp album shows very much here. To the rest of the Cardigans' credit however, they add something very perfect and very natural to this album which was lacking on her 'solo' venture.
This sound suits her voice so well. I was a fan of Gran Turismo, but it's this dusky setting, sat at home on your own with only a bottle of wine for company, where this album excels.

The slow and the not so slow tracks here are balanced nicely. Not too maudlin, and not too up tempo, but it's the slower tracks which work best for me. The incredibly debilitating "Couldn't Care Less" is one of finest songs I've ever ever heard, and on every listen stops me in my tracks.

Musically and lyrically, this is wonderful stuff, and the polished production never goes over the top. The finest instrument is of course the singer, but this truly is a band effort - every note played, every instrument chosen all adds to this great great album. There are a few lyric cliches here and there, but I'm sure many bands whose native language is English will kick themselves that a Swede has a better command of expression and poetry than they do...

There are loads of highlights on this album - "Communication", "And Then You Kissed Me", "Lead Me Into The Night", "Feathers and Down" and "03:35 No Sleep" are particularly exceptional for me.

Enjoy (bottle of wine optional).

This album is worth losing a no claims bonus for.

If there was a magic formula for albums, this would have used it.

Some albums excite and fade away quickly, some albums never offer a spark, some albums offer just enough to make you come back and get stronger listen after listen. This fits in to the latter catagory.

How to describe the album? Cast your minds back to the late eighties and early nineties. Albums were made that were layered, sounded sonically superb and that had energy. This was how many great albums were recorded before sqaushed flat sounds ruled the roost. Forget all that, because this takes the best aspects of bygone, classic production and adds a modern touch.

Three things stand out: beautiful acoustic guitar sounds (sympathetically played), a gorgeous, sexy (let's not ignore this fact) voice that makes you lose the moment and most importantly superb songs.

The first two songs, on second listen, send shivers down your spine. They are jaw droppingly good. Twenty or so listens later other songs then start to have the same effect.

This is what music was invented for.

This is guitar pop at its very best.

This is how modern music should be recorded, but even if it was, very few would come close to producing classy songs like this, that stick in your head without being annoying.

Perhaps the most impressive things is that a Swedish band can write lyrics that (while on the odd occasion are clunky) are sometimes excellent and thought provoking, sometimes sexy (yes, again sexy) and often memorable.

The image of Nina having a four letter word stuck in her head, the dirtiest word that she's ever said - and the fact that she's singing (with what sounds like a big grin on her face) that she's going to keep someone up all night enjoying carnal pleasures is fine, if blunt, imagery. And - did I mention this? - it's sexy.

For what it's worth, I love this album. And what is worse, I really do.

This, in my humble estimation, is The Cardigans at their best - the tormented, twisted, tenebrous undercurrents still bubbling up under what are superlatively crafted jaunty ("pop") songs with some very clever, brutally honest lyrics. Perhaps a tad more upbeat & accoustic-based than Gran Turismo but hey, bands have to move on. The played-incessantly highlights for me are: Communication - beautifully sweeping with orchestral backdrop & such aching vulnerability from Nina Persson's vocal you (may) want to cry. And Then You Kissed Me - Nina on top form relating the darker side of love and making no apologies for it! You're The Storm - this is exactly what I mean by "jaunty" (singalong), but with such shimmering songwriting brilliance (the lyric especially). These guys are just too clever for their own good.
On a parting note, does anyone else think Nina sounds a little disconcertingly like Sheryl Crow on A Good Horse? Or is it just my ears?!