FEATURE:
Second Spin
The Cardigans – Gran Turismo
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IN this feature…
PHOTO CREDIT: Martin Bogren
I am looking back at albums that did not get the attention they deserved the first time around. Whether the album was ahead of its time, critics were unfairly comparing it to that artist’s best work, or the album was not quite as good as expected, there are these works that are being overlooked or not put into the light. In this edition, I am focusing on The Cardigans’ Gran Turismo. One reason why some critics were a little down on the album is that, when you compare it to previous albums from The Cardigans, it is a radical shift. Their previous album, 1996’s First Band on the Moon, contained the smash hit, Lovefool – one of the best singles of the 1990s. I love The Cardigans, and the fourth album from the Swedish band saw them step off of the moon and to somewhere more atmospheric. It was released on 19th October, 1998, and the band mixed darker, more electronic sounds into the palette this time around. This was a very deliberate move by the group. I guess, when you have established yourself as a Pop band with elements of the 1960s and this rather charmingly uplifting sound, there is that need to move on and try something new. Maybe people were looking for a record that contained more tracks like Lovefool. The music scene changed quite a lot since 1996.
In 1998, Massive Attack put out Mezzanine. Madonna, an artist who established her name with these upbeat Pop tracks, released the more experimental and electronic Ray of Light – The Cardigans had to move with the times and evolve. Whilst Gran Turismo is not as strong as albums like Version 2.0 (Garbage), and Celebrity Skin (Hole), it was a fine addition to an eclectic and fantastic year. I think The Cardigans (Peter Svensson - guitar, vocals; Magnus Sveningsson - bass, vocals; Bengt Lagerberg - drums, percussion; Lars-Olof Johansson - keyboards, piano; Nina Persson - lead vocals) created something very special with Gran Turismo. Who can forget the singles Erase/Rewind, and My Favourite Game?! Producer Tore Johansson manages to bring something new and exciting from the band. I have always adored Nina Perssons’s voice, and she really shines on this album. I love her vocal performances on all Cardigans albums, but there is this tougher, slightly moodier persona that comes out on Gran Turismo. I want to bring in a couple of reviews of Gran Turismo, so that you can see how critics viewed The Cardigans fourth album. Here is a review from NME from 2000:
“'Gran Turismo' endeavours to plumb the depths, to take us into seriously doleful and sonically experimental territory, yet remains inextricably moored in shallow waters. There are glimmers of true loveliness - the gentle wash of 'Explode', where a minimalist beat and synth drone evoke untold sadness; the stealthy sub-industrial clangings and aching lyrics of 'Paralyzed'.
Angular guitars edge their way in cunningly, too, providing some of the album's finest moments - notably 'My Favourite Game' and 'Do You Believe', which is possibly a cynical response to 'Lovefool': "Do you really think that love is going to save the world?/Well I don't think so". Still, it's all too rare when real emotion, rather than canned sentiment, is allowed a look-in. Hence the tinny drums and saccharine vocals of 'Marvel Hill' and the faux-gospel Celine Dion schmaltz of 'Higher'.
The Cardigans will never crumble with genuine fragility or explode with absolute wrath. Pretty songs, sure. But throw a rock to see them shatter like glass and you'll only hear the hollow thump of Perspex”.
I guess there was a sense of the band taking this radical departure from their best-known work and trying something new. Whilst the album sold incredibly well, I feel there is this slightly sense of resignation from critics – many were hoping that the band would continue down their own path. When Pitchfork assessed Gran Turismo in 2008, they remarked the following:
“I'm not ashamed to admit that the Cardigans grabbed my attention not with their spacepop hit "Lovefool," but with their deliciously sexy vocalist Nina Persson, and the way she beckoned me seductively from the video of the same name. I knew she wanted me, and her ocean- blue eyes yearned to whisper "Jag alskar dig," in my hairy ears. I played hard- to- get back in 1996, when they released First Band on the Moon, and I contine to play hard- to- get, safe in the secret knowledge that Nina fights through every day, yearning for my touch. Believe me when I tell you, Nina, absence breeds anticipation-- we must wait for the proper moment for our Scando- American vibes to be combined like a tasty black- and- white milkshake. We must wait...
Our delicious waiting is made even more appetizing by the Cardigans "new" release, Gran Turismo. The sounds I hear disturb me, though. Where the Cardigans seemed so on top of their game on Last Band, Gran Turismo gives me a Nina that seems to have grown morose from her waiting. The light, sharply- arranged and smilingly ironic attitude that saturated their previous effort has metamorphosed into a self- concerned dragging effort devoid of the featherweight happiness that the Cardigans have been notable for.
Leaning more heavily on distorted guitars and electronica tidbits, most lyrics circulate thematically around breakups and regret. Nina's vocals are fitting to the subject, but where the Cardigans' past tracks about disappointment would often initially sound like a romp through the fertile fields of first love, Gran Turismo regretably strips away this façade. Let's be clear, though-- Gran Turismo isn't a bad album, it's just a distinct downer when compared to their earlier records”.
Go stream or buy Gran Turismo, as it is a cracking record, and one that I remember buying back in 1998. I excitedly got the bus to town, and bought it from a local market that sold C.D.s. I had been a fan of the band for years, and I loved what they did on Gran Turismo. Sure, it was very different and unexpected, but the album is far stronger than the singles. I think the album sounds bigger and better now, as other artists have incorporated some of Gran Turismo’s sounds and ideas.
In the years since the album was released, it has been reappraised and reconsidered. Not only do I play the album for a bit of nostalgia; it also sounds excellent and memorable in its own right. If a band put out an album like this today, it would be held in higher esteem than Gran Turismo was back in 1998. In a feature from 2018, Louder Than War explored the album:
“Those surprised by Gran Turismo’s sharp left turn obviously had not read up on The Cardigans’ taste for change. Since forming in the early nineties at a Swedish art school, they proved impossible to pigeonhole. Lest we forget that Persson and the gang were raised on a beefy diet of black metal, before slowly discovering the jangle pop joy of The Smiths and The Stone Roses. Deep Anglophiles, they honoured the country by naming their debut album Emmerdale, allegedly because it was the most British name they could think of (although there were no guest spots for the Dingles).
Gran Turismo, then, showed natural progression and a desire to evolve. Persson channelled her alienation into aching, trembling vocals. Her voice, both volatile and velveteen, soars and sighs on the downbeat groove of Explode, while the chunky guitars and fragmented beats of Higher enable her tight rasp to truly shine. Junk of the Hearts and Marvel Hill also display the band’s mercurial talents, bringing together textural fretwork, thumping bass and programmed beats.
Gran Turismo proved to be a worldwide success, cementing The Cardigans as one of rock music’s trailblazers. However, once the world tour finally came to a close at the turn of the century, Persson wanted out. They eventually reconvened in 2003 for their greatest record, the beautiful, broken country rock of Long Gone Before Daylight, and 2005’s reliable Super Extra Gravity. However, despite sporadic gigs since, the band’s future as recording artists seems to dangle on Persson’s desire. “I have to feel 100 per cent conviction about doing another Cardigans record,” she said in an interview back in 2009, “and right now I don’t. I feel terribly guilty, yes, as I know they are waiting… It’s not my fault I’m irreplaceable, is it?” Nearly ten years later and it seems she’s yet to be truly convinced”.
It is a shame the band have not recorded another album since 2005; Nina Persson recorded a solo album, Animal Heart, in 2014, but there has been very little from her since then. I will move on soon but, before then, I want to bring in a final article that gives some to Gran Turismo. In this feature, Albumism dug deep:
“Work on Gran Turismo, The Cardigans’ fourth album, began in early-to-mid 1998 and saw Tore Johansson return to the producer’s seat to assist the band in achieving their vision for a layered, weightier sound. As the sessions began picking up speed, The Cardigans whipped up a heavy and stormy aural composite of modern rock and electronic aesthetics—a significant departure from the overall sweet-faced vibes of their initial records.
Coming in succinctly at eleven tracks, Gran Turismo possesses the breadth and grandiosity of a double album. Much of this rests on how The Cardigans build their songs. Take the chameleonic, rhythmic foundation of the effort, forged from the percussion, bass and programming skills of Lagerberg, Sveningsson and Johansson. Said foundation can form itself to whatever unique lyrical or melodic set-up the tracks call for. Whether it is the late-night, alt-pop glide of “Erase/Rewind,” the electro crawl of “Higher” or the rapid-fire rock and roll bluster of “My Favourite Game”—all the music on Gran Turismo lends itself to a cinematic gait.
Songwriting wise, Gran Turismo evinces continual involvement from the outfit’s frontwoman, Nina Persson. In the beginning on Emmerdale, the lyrics were almost evenly divided between Peter Svensson and Magnus Sveningsson. But on Life and First Band on the Moon, more writing tasks were fielded from the other three members of the group in relation to the arranging and words; notably Persson stepped up for the latter.
The Cardigans were unbothered by haughty stateside tastemakers and trekked onward with the requisite gigging to support their fourth LP. Two more amazing projects in Long Gone Before Daylight and Super Extra Gravity emerged in 2003 and 2005 respectively, before The Cardigans placed a moratorium on any further collective recording activities. Though there have been a few small reunions—including a recent 20th anniversary commemorative tour for Gran Turismo—no plans for a full-on return in the studio have materialized.
Even with their diminutive discography, each album from The Cardigans stands as inventive and immersive affairs. But, Gran Turismo was the moment when the group pivoted from the safety of expectation and set off toward the horizons of the musical unknown—its boldness has lost none of its power”.
I am going to dive back into Gran Turismo, as I have not lost my passion for it since 1998. It is an album that has depth and so many great moments. I would encourage other people to spend some time in the coming days to explore…
SUCH a fine record.