Nina Persson opens up about solo album, Cardigans' future
Nina Persson has fronted the Cardigans and done a side project as A Camp, but the Swedish singer has never come out with a solo album under her own name. That is, until now.
On Tuesday, she will release "Animal Heart" as Nina Persson. "I just felt like now I wasn't scared of it anymore," she told CBS News.
Now that fans will be able to hear the new material, Persson feels excited and more than ready. "It's all falling into place. The record's been done for a while. So it feels like, 'Finally it's for real.' It still feels like an idea I had, but it's going to be out there," she said.
Persson, 39, co-wrote all the songs on the album, due out on The End Records. She collaborated with other writers and producers, including her husband Nathan Larson, with whom she teamed several times before. "It's worked because we've chosen to do it again. We keep doing it. We met working...so we don't know any different. I don't know that working with your spouse is always to be recommended honestly," she said.
Much of the material was composed in their apartment, located in the Harlem area of Manhattan; they conceived of the songs with a drum machine, guitar and piano before hitting the studio.
"I feel like I keep revisiting the
same old subjects again and again. And it's relationships that I write about," said Persson. "I
think it's endless what you can write about -- how complicated it can be and
how primitive we get in relationships...I think I write a lot about being sort
of a visitor in the world -- not really feeling like I belong, feeling that
there's a filter between you and the world."
When Persson tours behind the album this year, she'll be with a new band. She plans "to do a little bit of everything." And that means songs from the Cardigans, A Camp and "Animal Heart."
"I'm a debutante," she jokes. "I only have one album to choose from, so I need to go back to other albums." Fans can expect some cover songs, too, including David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging."
Persson is also keeping the door open for more work with the Cardigans. The group, which rose to fame in the '90s with the hit single "Lovefool," got together over the last couple of years for some shows. But between family and other projects, it's sometimes hard to keep the momentum going.
When asked if they would reconvene for a new album (their last surfaced in 2005), Persson said, "That's the thing. It was sort of unthinkable two years ago. And now we just enjoy everything so much and enjoy each other. So we're sort of excited. It would be interesting just to get together and figure out the logistics of making new music."
