Back.

WORDS FROM THE BAND

COMPARISONS TO LONG GONE BEFORE DAYLIGHT

- The last record is fantastic, but a lot of other people could have made it just as well. Now we've done something that is more us. [Nina, Sonic Magazine #24, September]

- It's always easy to compare with your latest work and in comparison to our last album Long Gone Before Daylight it's a little ... it's not quite as sad as that one. If that one was sad this one is kinda whiny, and angry. Or, not angry but more grumpy. [Nina, StudioPop SVT, 18 May]

- It feels like this one, the one we're working on now, is a bit more connected to Long Gone Before Daylight than what that one was connected to Gran Turismo. When we did Long Gone Before Daylight we wanted to go as far from Gran Turismo as we possibly could and we don't feel quite like that this time around. Our latest record still feels strong to us. We don't have to punk against it... as much. [Nina, StudioPop SVT, 18 May]

- I love Long Gone because it's so beautiful, but we agreed that The Cardigans are a bit more fun than that. We don't have to be that goody-goody, that's really not our thing at all. We're not rock-poets. What we do is something else entirely, we are a pop band. It felt so good to admit that; let's make a pop record. [Nina, Sonic Magazine #24, September]

- I love calling this record a teenager. We turn 13 this year and this one [points to LGBD] feels very mature... in a good way! We're very mature as well but it feels like the old record got such an overdose of it in way and that's not the entire truth. [Nina, Musikbyrån, 14 October]

- We talked about it and it's kind of like if the last album was in a way very homogeneous in the arrangements and in all the sounds and well, in all the songs. Everything was running in the same direction and communicating kind of the same thing. On this one it's a bit more like; there comes a little monkey over there and ... it's kind of more straggling and there are more unexpected twists maybe. [Peter, Aftonbladet TV, 30 August]

- We change with every new record, because we are so restless. As we are playing the songs so often and talk about them so much, there just has to be change. We were so pleased with the last record - the way we recorded it, this wonderful warmth of the sound you mentioned - that we decided to continue with that. But it was clear that we had to add something to that. At the end of the day, we wanted to rock a bit more on the new record! [Bengt, Gaesteliste.de]

ABOUT GOING BACK TO TORE AND AN EARLIER SOUND

- At first we thought Super Extra Gravity was going to sound pretty similar [to LGBD], but that all changed when we brought Tore Johansson back in. His idea was to take us out of our comfort zone. We wanted to make a riskier record where every song had something a bit twisted or spectacular. [Peter, The Independent 21 October]

- The last album didn't do as well as we feel it should have done. So we came to the conclusion that maybe we don't need to sit and dwell on things as much. "OK, what music is it that has worked best? The one we've made with Tore." Even though we think Long Gone Before Daylight is our masterpiece, a lot of people on our internet forum keep nagging on and on about our early records. [Nina, Sonic Magazine #24, September]

- A couple of years ago we sat down and listened to all of our records, and there really was something special about the first ones. We didn't think that much, we just made weird concoctions over at Tambourine Studios. [Nina, Sonic Magazine #24, September]

- We wanted to bring back Tore to see if we could bounce back from our split during the Long Gone Before Daylight recordings. He was part of the team in the beginning but left after three months of recording. It just didn't work and I think he had his mind on other things too, such as his marriage. So it was a bit of a risk-taking, but we felt, why not let that sour story lie and try it out once again? And I think it worked great, better now that we're all older as we're not afraid of him as before! He's a special person but it worked real fine this time and we do trust him very much. We wanted to make an edgier album this time, but keep the band feel to the record and I think we managed quite well. [Magnus, The Event Guide, Ireland]

- As much as we wanted to run away from him [Tore Johansson] on the previous record, we enjoyed being back together this time. It's becoming a very nice collaboration because he knows us so well. When we rehearse, he comes in, listens and then tells us we suck. He insults us to results. [Nina, Jam! Music Canada]

- Tore is a damn Malmö-type, but we wanted his cynical, hard side. We realized ourselves that it was time to ruffle the well-ironed shirts. The first step was to put Bengt in a vice behind the drums where he had to imitate Lars Ulrich of Metallica. Then the rest of us caught on. [Magnus, Dagens Nyheter, 8 October]

- The urge to want to get away from our previous records starts quite early. Once we're done touring with a record, we hate it. That's a good inspiration. Not being satisfied with your tombstone is a good inspiration. Getting embarrassed about your last record is a great inspiration. [Nina, Jam! Music Canada]

ABOUT THE SOUND OF SUPER EXTRA GRAVITY

- I think that it's going to be a pretty straggling album. There is kind of a bit of everything. [Nina, StudioPop SVT, 18 May]

- Quite a lot of the aspects are actually like what we were doing 10 years ago or maybe like what we were doing 4 years ago or 5 years ago. We think that the music has a little bit more kinship with First Band on the Moon for example. And the course of action is different. We're back with Tore [Johansson] and we're not using ... we did Gran Turismo with him as well but back then ProTools was the new thing and it took over the whole recording process in a way. Now we're doing it kinda like we used to when we started out with him. [Nina, Aftonbladet TV, 30 August]

- The first time we rehearsed the [new] songs we directly felt: "Well, it sounds like The Cardigans again." And that's nice and all but the inspiration comes first when we revolt against ourselves. We have such a distinct sound language that we have to break everything apart for something new to happen. [Nina, Dagens Nyheter, 8 October]

- We've had a kind of a leading star during the recording process and it has been that the album should be strange and good. [Nina, StudioPop SVT, 18 May]

- We wanted to do a record that was really obnoxious and really restless. We're being as punk as The Cardigans can be, but we wanted to act like spoiled teenagers too. [Nina, Jam! Music Canada]

- I think our strongest card is that we have very good like very dense songs all the time, even if it ends up on a b-side. I think Peter is a remarkable songsmith quite simply. It's always good! So we make up for that by... I mean, of course I don't want it to be bad but when it's consistently good you're allowed to wallow in having crazy sounds and go very far in different directions to compromise it a bit because otherwise it can become a little bit boring. It becomes too plain. [Nina, StudioPop SVT, 18 May]

- We gave in to all our weird whims. Nothing was sacred. If we would put a music-student to analyse this album who knows what conclusions we would get. [Nina, Dagens Nyheter, 8 October]

- First we spent ten years becoming a good band and learning to play well. So now we've dedicated the past year to breaking that down... demolishing it. [Nina. Musikjournalen, SR P3, 13 October]

ABOUT THE RECORDING PROCESS

- We came straight from a tour and were pretty close to a record we still liked a lot. So we probably thought that we were going to make a continuation of that record. But after only a few days in the studio we noticed that it started going in another direction. [Nina, Smålandsposten, 18 October]

- We did well with the last record and everyone was happy about it. We got a lot of nice reviews and we felt that we got a lot back from the fans, it was a record they really embraced and liked. So I guess we had the feeling that we were going to make the same record again. And then we met in Malmö and rehearsed for a day and then we just went: "But Bengt you can't play those drums like that again. I understand why you're playing it like that... but what if...?" So then we got the idea that we had to find another way. If there was a song that sounded like a typical Neil Young kind of song then Bengt can't play those Neil Young kind of drums but rather something that makes us... we can't be like a herd of sheep all running in the same direction. [laughter] We had to break it up a little. Then came the idea of getting back with Tore [Johansson] because, if anyone, he's the one to come in and turn things over and say things like "take you pants off and play with this hat on instead". [Peter, Musikjournalen, SR P3, 13 October]

- When we rehearsed the songs we timed them with a mobile phone and we were really surprised to find almost all of them to be 3:30 minutes long. Peter: - That's because of Tore, he has this efficiency. Nina: - Yes, he reduced the songs until they were just right. Magnus: - It's because he's getting old. He hasn't got much time left. [Nina, SPEX, October issue]

- The last time we recorded an album everything was so sensitive. Things had been infected for a while and were healing so we had to tread carefully. Everything was so very, very, very important. This time there was this different kind of lightness. Magnus: - We toured a lot last year so we play a lot better now, so in that sense it wasn't that much of an uphill struggle. [Nina, Svenska Dagbladet, 14 October]

- On the new album we haven't re-done anything at all, it's just straight up as it is. Besides, we had a strict working schedule with twelve days in the studio followed by eight days off and the album was done after six months. We let go of our heads making this album and just went for it, kamikaze-recording. [Nina, Svenska Dagbladet, 14 October]

- Nothing we do can really be subjected to a routine so it was nice to have a period when it was. All of a sudden you could decide things, you could plan things with friends, book laundry times. You knew what you had ahead of you. You could come home and meet your family in the evenings like most people do. [Nina, Smålandsposten, 18 October]

ABOUT THE FUTURE

- You never know that at this stage. The thing that is wonderful about this band is that you make a record and then there's this kind of almost fanatic religious feeling that now... "this, this is the shit!" It's like that right now. But then a year can pass and you end up saying [whispers] "No, that wasn't me! Did I really say that!?" It's so incredibly great to have that situation. [Peter, TT Spektra]

- I hope that we can still pull off some good albums, but you never know. What I do know is that we feel really confident and happy together, maybe better than ever. So if good mental and emotional health provides good music, then we're set for another couple of years! [Magnus, The Event Guide, Ireland]

Back.