The Cardigans - I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer (Universal)
UK release date: 3 October 2005
Starting with a muscular guitar riff and Nina Persson apparently training a dog ("sit...stay...roll over" she intones in a disturbingly saucy way), this marvellously titled single is likely to throw a curveball to those who have dismissed the Swedes as twee indie-poppers.
This is more straightahead rock than the quirky pop that made their name, but that doesn't make it any less irrestible. Persson's vocals are as whispy and melancholic as ever, lending the song a bittersweet air, while the chorus buries its way into the listener's brain and grabs hold of it relentlessly.
It's hard to believe, but The Cardigans have been going for over a decade now. Like the fine wine that Persson needs, they just get better and better with age.