The Cardigans

Long Gone Before Daylight (Stolkholm Records)
by Michael McCarthy

The Cardigans latest album, Long Gone Before Daylight, was released in most of the world in March. Unfortunately, it has not been released in the U.S. and thus far, there’s no release date scheduled. Perhaps their label here was disappointed that the album has a more organic sound, lacking the Garbage-esque vibe of their previous release, Gran Turismo? Admittedly, I missed the loops and electronic pop textures the first time I listened to it. However, I fell in love with it the second time around. And if you’ve ever fallen in love with a friend and ruined the friendship accordingly, this is the must-have disc of the year for you. So many of the 11 songs seem to be about such an occurrence, and it’s perfectly clear on “For What It’s Worth,” which calls to mind Natalie Imbruglia’s cover of Ednaswap’s “Torn” in that the lyrics are downright depressing in spite of its infectious pop hooks. “For what it’s worth – I like you, and what is worse – I really do, things have been worse, and we had fun fun fun ’til I said ‘I love you’.” I think we can all relate to that. And if you can’t, well, Nina’s haunting and emotional vocals will make sure you feel her pain anyway.
(www.cardigans.com)