Concretes Break 'Annoying' Swedish Stereotypes With 'WYWH'

Sweden is famous for two wildly different styles of music: death metal and indie pop. Although the Stockholm-based Concretes play the latter, singer Lisa Milberg doesn't much care for the corollary genre descriptor often foisted on the band.

"When people said we were making twee music, I could never hear that myself," Milberg tells Spinner. "I will never be able to understand what we sound like in other people's ears."

With the release of their fourth album, 'WYWH,' out now on Brooklyn imprint Friendly Fire Recordings, the Concretes may have finally found a way to ditch that pesky twee tag. Their first US release since Milberg, formerly the drummer, took over for Victoria Bergsman as lead singer, the record finds them delving into dance music, a sound they explore on half of the 10 tracks.

As for being classified as "Swedish pop," that's a harder label to sidestep, even though Milberg now makes her home in London. Luckily, the singer is filled with newfound national pride.

"The Swedish thing, I used to find it very annoying," she says. "We'd get lumped in with a lot of other bands. But now I think there are a lot of amazing Swedish bands, so I'm proud to be Swedish. And also since I left Sweden, I think I've become fonder of Sweden. But I do find it funny, because in America and in the UK, they would make this distinction. You are kind of saying between the lines, 'There can only be a certain amount of Swedish bands.' But most of us sing in English, and there's no limit to how many English or American bands there can be at once."

The Concretes plan to tour the States early next year, and while Milberg would like to build on the success they'd started to achieve in 2003, when 'Can't Hurry Love,' from their self-titled second album, caused a minor stir, she says she's not driven by dreams of conquering America.

"I'm forever going to try my best," she says. "I want us to be a great band. If we were to make it big in America, that would be fantastic, because then I could come over and eat good food and see beautiful places. And if we could make it big in America, that would mean we'd make a lot of money and that would be excellent. But I can't say I think of it in those harsh ways, where I want to make it big in America. That doesn't mean I'm not trying to do the best I can. But I don't think of it was work like that."