June 25, 2001 15:56

CARDIGANS COMFY AGAIN

Songwriter Magnus Svenningson says the band's massive success made him "lose touch with reality"...

CARDIGANS songwriter and bassist MAGNUS SVENNINGSON has revealed how being in the band at the height of their success almost destroyed him.

When the band were told plans for their world tour in support of the 'Grand Turismo' album in 1997, he admitted finally snapped and had to quit.

He spent time Djing and working in a local recording studio, and began writing music and recording under the moniker Righteous Boy, taking lead vocals for the project. The material is yet to be released, but is described as being influenced by The Cureand Tindersticks.

Speaking to Swedish paper Expressen about the 'Gran Turismo' period, he said: "I had a life-crisis. When you live in a sheltered world as a successful pop star, you easily lose touch with yourself and reality. In the end I didn't know who I was or where I was."

After three years, Svenningson said he is now ready to return to the fold and said the band have "found their chemistry" again, now that the members have had a chance to pursue their own projects.

As previously reported on NME.COM, The Cardigans' singer Nina Persson has said that the band will be resuming duties after her solo single and album come out in August.

"We [the band] needed to have our puberty alone," she said. "Now we are back and remarried. We went to LA on a band bonding for ten days, we played a lot of beach volleyball, drank, had a few barbecues and wrote some pretty nice songs."