I first heard The Cardigans‘ song “Lovefool” in September of ’96 and immediately fell in love with it, long before it became a hit single, as part of the soundtrack for William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. The band is from Sweden, so one might assume a poppy lightness, given the country’s reputation (based largely on ABBA). Of course, Norway (home of Annie and Kings of Convenience) has the same rep. Must be the blonde hair.
The thing about The Cardigans is that they maintain a balance between darkness and light, at least on their new album Super Extra Gravity. People seemed to really like Gran Turismo (1998) and then not like Long Gone Before Daylight (2004) so much. Long Gone… had a folky, unplugged confessional quality. One song from that album was “And Then You Kissed Me,” which was a rewrite of the Crystals’ “He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss).” That song is revisited on the new album as “And Then You Kissed Me (Part 2).” It’s a new song, but there are lyrical and melodic resemblances to the earlier one. I think it’s a fine example of how The Cardigans set out to make this new album “twisted” and “weird” (their words) compared to the last one.
I also like the song “In The Round,” which makes a passing reference to the popular puppet metaphor often used in songs, such as James and Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet.” Why is it that in Pinocchio, the most well-known puppet story, the metaphor doesn’t apply? Pinocchio makes his own mistakes; he’s not a slave to another. The story is more about the desire to be alive, along the lines of Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Steadfast Tin Soldier.” Ah, well.
The Cardigans – And then you kissed me II — BUY
The Cardigans – In the round — BUY