4 Music forms | The Cardigans, Super Extra Gravity

The first group would have to be orchestral music as it forms our roots and endures through time. Perhaps the most articulate of all the forms, certainly one of the most grand. This encompasses everything from pieces hundreds of years old, to modern film and game soundtracks.
The other groups are electronic, acoustic which includes folk and minimal organic music,

and of-course, Rock’n’roll.

All four forms have their own power, and this statement can be made about all of them, but today for me there is just nothing like good rock’n’roll, and the example for the day is The Cardigans’ 2005 album Super Extra Gravity. What a brilliant work this is, absolutely flawless. Better by far than countless modern pretenders to the 60s era Rock-roots sound. The album starts strongly with the opener Losing a friend, followed by an equally strong and wonderfully vibrant Godspell. The brilliant vibe of the album keeps evolving and growing with great tracks I need some fine wine and you, you need to be nicer and Don’t blame your daughter (Diamonds) straight after it. Winding towards the end of the album we peak with Holy Love where the album title comes from, and a magnificent song too, drawing to a close with And then you kissed me II.

This is everything great rock’n’roll is. Multi-layered meanings in the lyrics, some quite literal, some obscure, bitter, angry, joyous, celebratory, playful, serious – each emotion carefully crafted with perfection through Nina Pearson’s voice and the band’s great performance of the quintessential 60s sound.

The best thing about the album though is that not only is it perfectly crafted, but it strikes an emotional chord that only great rock can. It’s a very proud sound, about being yourself, isolated, unified in community, angry at those who wrong us and joyful about those we love and cherish, celebrating the experiences of our lives, good, bad and everything in-between.