The Cardigans : The Cardigans Best of

added : 19 Mar 2008
release date : 3 Mar 2008
label : Polydor Records
reviewer : Cat McGovern

You wouldn’t think that these Swedish pop starlets have been entertaining and bringing us quirky, fun music for 14 years, but they have. Also, you’ll go – 'Really? A best of album? Do they have enough tracks to fill it?' indeed they do, an impressive 21 to be precise. They have had 5 albums out in the past 14 years and some of them have been bloody brilliant whereas others have been slightly questionable.

From 1996 – 1999 they had 5 UK top 20 hits and were everywhere. Many critics wrote them off as a one-hit wonder band, but over the years they have produced some of the best tunes around.

Once you listen to the album and go through it, you slowly begin to remember many twee but brilliant Cardigans tracks that you had forgotten about, and it immediately brings a big smile to your face, like 'Carnival’ from their poppy 'Life’ album.

Best known for the modern day Romeo and Juliet film 'Lovefool’, you know, the one with Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes, don’t try and deny you don’t remember as this song plagued all music outlets for years, and of course the brilliant and very rocky 'My Favourite Game’. But other tracks like 'Rise and Shine’ and 'After All’ exhibit different sides of the ever evolving band. The former being a really happy and chirpy sing-a-long and the latter being a stripped down and delicate piece of music. With soft vocals and just a piano it is just brilliant simplicity. Tracks like 'Hanging Around’ from 'Gran Turismo' shows their darker and moodier side. A really edgy and morose song which showed how they could change styles seamlessly with success.

The lead, Nina Persson, has gorgeously sublime vocals and listening to all their top track on one album makes you remember the good times when music was good and Pete Doherty wasn’t even thinking of making music, simpler times. Just ignore the Tom Jones one – 'Burning down the house’, we’re all allowed to make some mistakes.