the cardigans my favourite game acapella

Their latest album, Gran Turismo, has sold 800,000 copies since its release last October - and that's without taking America into account, where the album has not yet been released. Since the release of their debut album, Emmerdale, in 1994, The Cardigans have earned the respect of fans all around the world with a combination of extensive touring, heavy record company promotion, and a good old‑fashioned string of cracking singles, including the UK number two hit 'Lovefool' in 1997.

The Cardigans' current status also, however, owes a great deal to another long‑term relationship - with producer Tore Johansson, who has produced all of the band's records since discovering them five years ago. Now on their fourth album, the band are currently Sweden's biggest music‑industry export earner, and have proved beyond doubt that the only way for a record company to transform a local act into an international one is to give it time to evolve and develop. Myopic record companies who can't see the value of long‑term artist development should stop to consider the career of The Cardigans. Sue Sillitoe tracks down their regular producer Tore Johansson in his Country Hell studio to talk about how the song was put together. Then touring until 7 December.The Cardigans are the biggest thing to come out of Sweden since, er, Ace Of Base, and their recent hit 'My Favourite Game' represented a successful change of musical direction. Despite celebrating Gran Turismo, they sound much more comfortable once they’ve left it behind.Īt 02 Academy, Glasgow, 4 December. The lovely Communication and the playful breakthrough hit Lovefool from 1996 sound particularly glorious. The sublime, unsettling Higher and a singalong My Favourite Game finally score a difficult triumph, before Persson switches to a natty green outfit with a rosette and the band are drenched in colour for a 45-minute romp through their back catalogue. With guitarist Oskar Humlebo ably replacing Peter Svensson (who declined the reunion) and the sound ever improving, the country-tinged Junk of the Hearts doesn’t sound out of place in today’s world of Taylor Swift et al. She remains a fabulous frontperson and if she’s disappointed by the closed balcony and the hall’s empty spaces, it doesn’t show. Her face is concentrated, her vocals soaring and emotional, her lyrics illustrated by darting hand movements. Persson – now a mother and cancer survivor – says she has developed the “thicker skin” needed to perform these songs but, clad in funereal black, she is certainly reliving them. While one yearns for the album’s clarity, the melodramatic tunes of Erase/Rewind, the Abba-esque Hanging Around and the beautifully sad Explode are strong enough to escape the murk. Still, this does give opener Paralyzed – which starts with the line “This is where your sanity gives in” – a weird, unsettling power.

The cardigans my favourite game acapella