Interview of Dot Music 29 July 97
THE CARDIGANS
On The Verge Of Global Success



When Dotmusic put the spotlight on the new wave of Swedish pop in June 1995, we predicted that The Cardigans would go far, but neither we, nor anyone else, could have predicted that the quintet would sell more than 1.5m units of their second album, Life. And among those least expecting a breakthrough was the band's main songwriter and guitarist Peter Svensson. He happily admits that when the band formed in Malmo in the early Nineties, it was really just for fun.

"We really didn't expect anything, although I thought that people would like our music," he says. "We didn't even think of getting abroad as lots of Swedish bands don't make it outside the country. And it's even rarer to be accepted in the UK."

The Cardigans' new single Lovefool, released on Polydor on August 19, and their third album The First Band On The Moon, released on September 9, are sufficiently strong to multiply that acceptance, and not just in the UK - where three singles (Sick And Tired, Carnival and Rise And Shine) all made the UK Top 40 last year - but worldwide. Japan, for example, is a major market for the band, where Life has now sold more than 500,000 copies.And it was in Japan that the sheer class of The Cardigans' Sixties-inspired pop-swing sound was first recognised apart from in the office of PolyGram-distributed Stockholm Records (better known as home to dance acts like Stakka Bo and Army Of Lovers).

Managing director Ole Hakansson recalls that the initial plan was to release the band's debut album Emmerdale (named after the Yorkshire TV show because the band liked the sound of the word) and let matters develop slowly. "We didn't want them to work aggressively internationally," he says. But he did not take into account the Japanese market's interest in Swedish pop. And within a short time of Polydor Japan hearing that first album, The Cardigans had themselves an overseas release and exposure."We subsequently received a number of enquiries from UK magazines and a buzz got going," says Hakansson.

After playing a couple of shows in the Far East, the next piece of the jigsaw fell into place when Polydor UK picked up the option and released the Life album - or to be exact, an album that mixed the best tracks from Emmerdale and Life. Sick And Tired and Carnival both failed to chart the first time around, but after the band played a couple of sold-out shows, radio jumped on board and both re-releases charted, with the third single, Rise And Shine, ultimately hitting number 29. With this help, Life has sold 85,000 units to date in the UK.The same scenario happened in America, albeit on a smaller scale, where Life was picked up by Minty Fresh (the label behind Veruca Salt), and the band sold out 9,000-seater venues without any pre-publicity - matching the success of Oasis' second US tour - and sold more than 40,000 albums in the process.

Spin magazine then voted Life Best Album That You Didn't Hear in 1995. Although PolyGram US passed on Life - "it was probably happening a little bit too fast for America," says Hakansson - Mercury is now right behind the new album. And you can hear why, as the band are proving to be adept at turning out one breezy, polished pop gem after another. Lovefool is just one; Your New Cuckoo, Been It and Step On Me are every bit as good.

The Cardigans' ingredients are exactly the same as before - Nina's candyfloss cooing, the verse/chorus structures and the easy-listening swing of the music - but Svensson admits there are crucial differences between Life and the follow-up album."Some say the new album is a bit darker, but I would say it's maybe not that jolly, and a bit heavier in places," he says. "I hope it's a bit more timeless in its sound too, and not that obviously Sixties. In the past, we would double-up, like a Sixties feeling with a typically Sixties lyric, and a Sixties way of producing. This time, if a song had a Sixties melody, we'd want a production that was contrasting. Heartbreaker, for example, has a more psychedelic feeling to it, and the lyrics aren't just like a Sixties short-story about nothing."

Svensson highlights one lyric in particular, Step On Me, as an example of their more serious side. "It could be a reaction from the media telling us we're kitsch pop, because we took those comments seriously. But it felt natural to do something else. Yet the difference isn't that big. The songs are basically the same." The studio location and producer are too. The Cardigans have recorded all three albums in their home town of Malmo with producer Thore Johansson. Says Svensson, "I believe the studio is a really big factor in our sound, and we've known Thore for years. I always take songs to him before I go to the band, as he's a songwriter himself, so I can get a reaction. The other band members are fine about that. This is quite a big thing now, and the others know that it worked this way, so why change something?"

At least Svensson took the trouble to ask his fellow Cardigans about the direction they wanted to take, and what songs to include on the album. "It's a big help for me if someone asks for a certain song, it gives me inspiration," he says. "We talked about a power ballad for the track The Great Divide, and though Nina and Magnus [The Cardigans' bassist] wanted a psychedelic groove song with an ambient feel to it, I didn't agree. But there are a couple of songs, like Heartbreaker and Losers, that almost got there. It made them happy."

Equally pleased is Polydor UK marketing manager Greg Sambrook. With Rise And Shine cracking the Top 30, The Cardigans have recently played the T In The Park, Phoenix and Chelmsford festivals, previewing some of the new songs. "It whet peoples' appetites again," he enthuses. "It's great, we're continually dovetailing from one project to another."

The Cardigans have always sounded quintessentially English, with Nina's clipped vocals sounding like a classic English chanteuse. Sambrook believes this has helped their cause in the UK.He says, "The familiarity of their sound opened people's minds to them, but then when people scratched the surface and found out they were Swedish, there was a lot of deeper interest, because no one expects such a pop sensibility from Scandinavia."

Polydor UK has no direct A&R input into The Cardigans, with all key decisions taken by Stockholm Records. But Hakansson says that with an act as focused as The Cardigans, that is not a particularly arduous task."We have been able to let the band get on with it," he says. "They're talented, and they're aware of what's happening. They've studied the international scene, the new acts and the media. They're very easy to work with."

Stockholm is also behind the tour itinerary, which takes the band to all corners of the globe over the next few months. They will not be touring in the UK until November, following the completion of a Japanese and then a European tour, but Britain remains an important market for the band, says Hakansson. "Sweden has been very influenced by the British scene, and even if you have succeeded elsewhere, you haven't really succeeded until you have done so in the UK," he adds. And plans are already in place for next year. 1997 begins with three months in America. "We'll do one month touring and promotion, one month to stay on in case something happens, then another month's tour," says Svensson. Clearly Mercury is not taking any chances that The Cardigans will be out of the country if, and when, their turn comes.

Is the success of The Cardigans only the start of a seriously swinging Swedepop wave? Ole Hakansson thinks so. "What with Salt, Whale, Fireside, and young female artists like Robyn and Mega, who sold 600,000 albums in Japan, this is definitely happening. If more than one artist from a small country succeeds, then other bands believe they can do it. It's a mental thing, you start believing in yourself, and you work hard for it. You feel it's not impossible because the guy next door did it."

By the end of 1997, they may still not be The First Band On The Moon, but they'll more than likely be everywhere else.

by Martin Aston