AS BIG THINGS to come out of Sweden go, The Cardigans can probably only be bettered by Abba, Borg and the Volvo. So the idea had been to go to the Bayswater Hotel where The Cardigans were holed up, having just finished recording their fourth album, and interview their beautiful blond and sky-blue-eyed singer, Nina Persson.

But the band insist they're a band, and so all five are up early for an ensemble interview; slumped, half-asleep under the unflattering glare of hotel lighting. There's much cigarette sucking and coffee slurping.