Amazon.co.jp
スウェーデンの男女5人組の奏でる透明なサウンドは、どうしようもない日々の倦怠感をイメージさせる。日常くり返されるつまらない事件、さして新しい出会いもないまま、いつもの顔見知り連中と集う週末のパーティ...そんな景色がついつい浮かんでしまう。
センチメンタルなリズムを引きずるメロディーラインに、ウィスパーボイスが重なる。清澄なアコースティックギターの調べに、変則的なベースライン。フルートやリコーダーそしてオーボエなどの管楽器とビブラホンを使った雰囲気のあるアレンジは、カーディガンズならではのオリジナリティにあふれいる。（柊 ゆう）
From Amazon.co.uk
Statistics are a baffling thing. They tell us that Sweden enjoys Europe's highest standard of living and its highest suicide rate. Statistics also tell us that The Cardigans are the country's most successful musical export since Abba. This actually makes perfect sense, for the quintet's music is an uncannily accurate microcosm of the country that spawned it--deliciously breezy pop melodies lent just enough bite by Nina Persson's fatalistic vocals. It's a recipe they perfected with unnerving confidence on
Life, which exhibits an instinctive familiarity with the pantheon of timeless pop. Burt Bacharach's shadow looms unmistakably over the pensive autumnal strains of "Celia Inside" and "Tomorrow", whilst fragrant indie-pop nuggets such as "Rise And Shine" and "Gordon's Gardenparty" suggest that guitarist/songwriter Peter Svensson spent more than the occasional evening learning his craft from old Smiths records. It is, of course, impossible to discuss intuitive 90s female-fronted pop acts without mentioning Saint Etienne. The appreciation, in this case, is mutual; so impressed were the Etienne with the airy pristine sound of
Life, that they were inspired to record 1997's
Good Humor in the same Malmo studios. --
Peter Paphides
