Concretes Ready to Conquer America With 'WYWH'

Posted on Nov 13th 2010 1:00PM by Kenneth Partridge
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Olle Kirchmeier

Lead singers and drummers tend to have very different personality types, and while it's not unheard of for musicians to succeed in both roles -- take a bow, Phil Collins and Levon Helm -- it certainly is rare. Lisa Milberg knew the odds were against her, but in 2006, following the departure of Victoria Bergsman, she traded her drumsticks for a microphone and took over as frontwoman for the Concretes, the Swedish indie-pop group she'd co-founded more than a decade earlier.

By her own admission, the transition wasn't a smooth one, and after 2007's 'Hey Trouble,' an album she now sees as something of a rush job, the Concretes took an extended breather. They return this week with 'WYWH,' a dance-tinged record representative of Milberg's newfound confidence.

"You have to be insane to do what I did," Milberg tells Spinner. "I can't believe I did what I did. But now that I'm used to it, I really do enjoy it. But the first year, everything about it was terrifying. It's really like being the drummer and the singer are pretty much inverse situations. I would say those are the two most important pieces of a band, but in very different ways. It's very nice to be the drummer, because you don't have eyes on you at all times, because you have to keep everyone together."

While Milberg had contributed background vocals to the Concretes' 2006 sophomore album, 'In Colour,' she says the idea of stepping out front and replacing Bergsman originally struck her as "completely absurd."

"We wanted to change the name and start over, but the more we thought about it, it had been a part of our lives for so long," she says. "If we were to get a new member in, it would have been very strange to call ourselves the Concretes."

Since 'Hey Trouble' never came out in the United States, 'WYWH' is less a comeback than a reboot -- a chance for the Concretes to introduce American audiences to a new singer and sound.

"I am super proud of this album," Milberg says. "If we're going to get reacquainted, it's a good start."

Listen to the Concretes' 'WYWH'