Long Gone Before Daylight

by

The Cardigans

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The Cardigans hit the big time a few years back with the song 'Lovefool' from Baz Luhrmann's 'Romeo And Juliet' film.

This was after they had released one album 'Life' which was very kitsch and sixties in sound.Their second album 'First Band On The Moon' was also very kitsch and retro but it showed a dark side to the Cardigans on songs such as 'Been It' and a bizarre reinterpretation of Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man'.

Next album 'Gran Turismo' yielded the hits 'Erase/Rewind' and 'Favourite Game' both modern pop masterpieces but overall the album was disappointing as it tried too hard to be the opposite of the first two albums.Too many synthesisers -not enough soul.

Nina Persson (the stunning lead singer with the lovely voice) took a long break after Gran Turismo to explore other forms of music and released the album 'A Camp' under the same moniker.Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse was heavily involved and the album was very lo-fi/alt country with a very weird 'ghostly' quality to it.It was an excellent album as it really showcased the power of Nina Persson's voice on slower numbers that were now devoid of kitsch orchestration or synthesisers.

The Cardigans went into the studio to record their latest album and Peter Svennson was not happy with the results and shelved the whole album.He felt that the new album had been rushed.

Instead the band regrouped for a major rethink and the result was 'Long Gone Before Daylight'.It was the best decision that Svennson ever made.When the album was released it clearly showed a major maturity in the songwriting and also the songs did justice to Nina Persson's wonderful voice.

The album doesn't really have a bad track to speak of.I particularly love 'Then He Kissed Me' a wonderful statement about a modern relationship with it's metaphor of love as violence (whether real or imagined, I don't know).

This is an album for listening to on your own as all the songs are extremely powerful.Persson is now showing what a powerful lead vocalist that she is on all of these songs.

The album is a stunning revelation.

Like other reviewers, I was absolutely floored by the brilliant (and underrated) Gran Turismo album. When I heard that the next Cardigans album was going "back to the basics", I was a little skeptical. But Long Gone Before Daylight isn't so bad. I actually like this type of music. "Communication" is a wonderful song with Enya-esqe orchestration. "And Then You Kissed Me" almost makes me cry every time I hear it. My favorite parts of Gran Turismo are still here: Nina's beautiful, soothing voice, and the ice-cold percussion.

Unfortunately, in almost every song there is a part that grates my ears. For example, in "And Then You Kissed Me", there's a part where Nina coos a "black and blue" nursery rhyme that completely breaks up the rhythm. "You're the Storm" could be a great song if it weren't for that annoying anvil sound (even though I understand the symbolism for it).

So, basically, I'm saying this is an album that a casual fan can skip, especially due to it's high import price. If you like this kind of music, I would strongly recommend Aimee Mann's album, Lost in Space.