Cloudberry Jam

Like their countrymen the Cardigans and Komeda, Sweden's Cloudberry Jam drew from an eclectic pool of influences — the vintage Motown sound, cool jazz, even a hint of Latin American music — to hone their own distinctive brand of elegant, finely-textured lounge-pop. Formed in the town of Linköping in 1991, the group comprised vocalist Jennie Medin, guitarist Jörgen Wärnström, bassist Per Valsinger, multi-instrumentalist Henrik Sundqvist and drummer Per Byström; while their 1992 debut EP La La La offered a more faceless, guitar-driven lo-fi sound, their 1994 follow-up The Art of Being Cool began moving towards the fresh diversity of their best work. Blank Paycheck, Cloudberry Jam's full-length debut, arrived in 1995, and offered a complete integration of the quintet's myriad influences, yielding a bright, sophisticated sound topped off by Medin's gorgeous vocals. 1996's Providing the Atmosphere was even better, adding an element of Stereolab-styled space-age pop; the record was a huge success not only at home but also in Japan, where it sold over 100,000 copies. A singles compilation, Going Further, preceded the release of Cloudberry Jam's third studio LP, The Impossible Shuffle, which appeared in late 1997. After Medin then decided to return to university, the group's break-up was announced the following year.