After almost ten years of releasing albums there is a time when the vitality of youth is superceded by a growing maturity. The Cardigans were brilliant and prolific between 1994 and 1998 releasing four albums of superb, effervescent pop which merged influences from Prefab Sprout to Black Sabbath. Worryingly, since 1998 they have been dormant save for Nina Persson's excursion into alt-country with the Mark Linkous-aided A Camp project. It is that same excursion which is the logical predecessor to the next chapter in The Cardigans' career as 'Long Gone Before The Daylight' follows that same easy on the ear trajectory. Though it can be a little disheartening to hear the sound of such a band growing up, The Cardigans still know their way around a good tune and many of the songs featured dig their claws in eventually. There's aching romance in abundance in 'Communication' and 'Please Sister' whereas recent single 'For What It's Worth' is hardly a match for the excitement of earlier efforts like 'Sick And Tired' but still has a fine tune in its own right. A pity that the two longest tracks ('And Then You Kissed Me' and 'Couldn't Care Less') are amongst the weaker offerings but 'Live And Learn's splendid ringing guitar lick shows that they haven't entirely descended into a "thirtysomething" act. As career nadir's go, this is still pretty decent.