* En anglais uniquement
Known primarily as the lead singer of the early-'90s-formed Swedish indie act
the Cardigans,
Nina Persson also went on to front
A Camp in the new century before recording her first solo material in 2013. Born in southern Sweden,
Persson was a relative latecomer to pop music, only beginning to show interest in it when she was well into her teens. After meeting
Peter Svensson and
Magnus Sveningsson while at art college,
Persson was asked to front
the Cardigans even before she'd performed live on-stage. In the mid-'90s they issued four albums -- from 1994's twee, soft-released
Emmerdale to 1998's three million-selling Gran Turismo -- while steadily finding further worldwide commercial success with each concurrent release; the band managed to achieve this while gradually pursuing darker themes and sounds along the way.
Released in 1996,
First Band on the Moon -- which featured the international hit "Lovefool" -- was the first
Cardigans record to include lyrics penned by
Persson, and by the time a band hiatus arrived due to various bandmembers' family commitments, she was more than equipped to be the main creative force behind the solo side project that she named
A Camp. The 2001-released, self-titled album was produced in the main by
Mark Linkous of
Sparklehorse, but also featured some production and instrumentation from ex-
Shudder to Think guitarist
Nathan Larson, who
Persson married that same year following their relocation to New York in 2000.
The year 2003 brought another
Cardigans album, the
Per Sunding-produced, country-influenced
Long Gone Before Daylight, which continued the band's tradition of progressively issuing downbeat material. Next, although 2005's
Super Extra Gravity was received in a similarly low-key fashion by critics,
Tore Johansson -- who had produced each of the band's '90s albums -- returned to provide the sessions with a touch of much-needed light and color. The second politically themed
A Camp album,
Colonia, took influence from classic pop of the '60s and '70s and appeared in 2009, the same year that her contribution to the
Danger Mouse and
Sparklehorse album
Dark Night of the Soul was made available. In 2010,
Persson gave birth to her son Nils, and subsequently -- although she contributed vocals to
Larson's soundtrack projects of the period, as well as to
James Iha's album
Look to the Sky -- became less focused on making music in the years that followed. However, by 2014 she had readied a debut solo album. Released that February, sessions for the '80s pop-inspired
Animal Heart took place in collaboration with both
Larson and
Fruit Bats mainstay Eric D. Johnson. ~ James Wilkinson