The Cardigans

pop

The Cardigans is a Swedish band that formed in Jönköping, Småland, Sweden in 1992. The band's musical style has varied greatly from album to album; encompassing their early indie-leanings passing through '60s-inspired pop and more band-based rock. Their current lineup is Nina Persson on vocals, Peter Svensson on lead guitar, Magnus Sveningsson on bass guitar, Bengt Lagerberg on drums and Lars-Olof Johansson on keyboards and guitar. The five-piece met as teenagers in Jönköping, Sweden, a town whose only distinguishing feature is its 52 churches. In October 1992, bonded by their mutual love of hard rock and folk music (they listed Nick Drake and Iron Maiden as their two biggest influences by 1994), guitarist Peter Svensson and bassist Magnus Sveningsson conceived The Cardigans. As their hometown was hardly a Mecca of musical enterprise, the group packed up and moved to the somewhat more central fishing port of Malmö, Sweden's third largest city, to seek their fortune. With Peter writing most of the music and the band as a whole composing the lyrics, the quintet set out to find a deal. After an early recording of Rise & Shine appeared on a local independent label in 1994, The Cardigans were swiftly signed to Stockholm Records. The same year the band made their debut for the label with Emmerdale and later won the accolade of Best Album of 1994 from Slitz, at the time Sweden's leading music magazine. The rise of The Cardigans has since been gradual, allowing them the tim...