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Forming in Gothenburg, Sweden, when lead singer Yukimi Nagano was just 14 years old, Little Dragon have forged a path as one of the most consistent, respected and universally loved bands of recent times. The current album “New Me, Same Us”—released on Ninja Tune—represents another chapter in the continuing evolution of Little Dragon, finding new direction in their unique style of unhurried, off-kilter r’n’b, pop and electronics. Entirely self-produced and recorded at their long-term home-built studio in Gothenburg, it’s the sound of a band going back to basics and falling back in love with their instruments: drums, bass, keyboards, harp, guitar and voice, to produce some of their most focussed and inarguably best music to date. 

Having grown up with a passion for writing poems and lyrics from an early age in her diaries, Yukimi Nagano shunned formal vocal training, instead joining up with school friends Erik Bodin (drums and percussion) and Fredrik Wallin (bass) to sing on the various musical projects they were involved in. They were soon joined by Håkan Wirenstarnd (keyboards) to form the quartet that persists to this day. A group of self-confessed ‘weirdos’, they would meet up after school to play records to each other and jam, a method of working that has remained largely unchanged to this day; the now much-mythologised legend states that the band took their title from a nickname given to Yukimi for her fiery temper during those early days in the studio. 

With a sound that is notoriously hard to pin down, Little Dragon have always been a unique melting-pot of their individual influences and styles, previously referencing artists as diverse as Brian Eno, Snoop Dogg, D’Angelo and Alice Coltrane as touchstones of their musical tastes. Yukimi cites icons such as Prince and Kate Bush as early influences, with her and Erik being particularly into the hip hop and r&b of artists such as De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Fred brought with him a love of jazz and more experimental and electronic sounds. With Håkan it was a pasison for all things synth; bands like Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk and the sounds of synth pioneers like Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre.

After all trying and failing to get into music college they moved into a local squat-cum-recording studio—affectionately named the Seal Colony—in central Gothenburg and began making music together full-time, while taking on part time jobs as a last resort in order to stay afloat, with Yukimi selling strawberries and Erik driving trucks.

Their first breakthrough as a band came with the single ‘Twice’, initially released by a friend of theirs at the Swedish label Off The Wall Records it was picked up a year later by UK label Peacefrog, who went on to release a collection of demos from the band which would form their eponymous debut album in 2007. The release saw Little Dragon’s profile begin to rise in the UK and—particularly following the inclusion of ‘Twice’ in the popular TV show Greys Anatomy (as Yukimi’s grandmother excitedly called to tell her)—the US.  

Though fairly guarded when it comes their own output—having only worked with a handful of external musicians and producers on their own albums—they quickly became one of the most sought after bands to work alongside. With big names from across the worlds of hip hop, pop, electronic and beyond seeking to align themselves with the band’s unique sound—in particular Yukimi’s distinctive vocals. Chalking up an enviable list of collaborators throughout the years, they have worked with equally groundbreaking artists like BADBADNOTGOOD, Gorillaz, SBTRKT, Flying Lotus, Flume, Kaytranada, Big Boi (who was first put on to the band via fellow Outkast member André 3000), De La Soul, DJ Shadow, Tinashe, Mac Miller, Future, Raphael Saadiq, Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio), Faith Evans and recently with Kali Uchis,Moses Sumney,FKJ and Yo-Yo Ma.

Equally, their hugely popular and highly regarded live performances have spawned a global, decade-spanning touring career which has seen them perform at some of the world’s most revered festivals such as Coachella, Glastonbury, Bestival, Lollapalooza, Melt, Dour and Sonar Festival, as well as recently co-headlining a show with Flying Lotus at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl.

It was 2009’s “Machine Dreams”—their idiosyncratic take on making a dance album—that caught the attention of Damon Albarn, who co-opted the band for two tracks on his guest-heavy Gorillaz project “Plastic Beach”. Setting out on the subsequent star-studded tour alongside the likes of Mos Def, Lou Reed, De La Soul, MF Doom, Kano and Mark E. Smith would prove to be a memorable highlight for the band, with Yukimi in particular recalling fondly the time she spent on the tour bus with Bobby Womack discussing his approach to songwriting. 

While still courting little recognition in their own country—they first played a gig in LA before Sweden—another turning point came with the release of third album “Ritual Union”. Reaching No.22 in the UK album charts and breaking the Billboard top 100 for the first time, it marked the first of 3 straight entries into the top-5 of Billboard’s Dance & Electronic chart, and was included in Rolling Stone’s top 50 albums of 2011. This was followed by “Nabuma Rubberband” in 2014, an album that was inspired amongst other things by the Janet Jackson slow-jams Yukimi was listening to at the time of writing and the long, dark Gothenburg winter in which it was recorded. The album further cemented their commercial successes, going top-15 in the UK charts, top-25 in the US and earning a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’.

More recently they followed up 2017’s critically acclaimed “Season High” full-length with news of their signing to Ninja Tune and the release of their first ever EP “Lover Chanting” in 2018. Support for the band has come from the likes of Pitchfork, The Guardian, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, Resident Advisor, Crack, FADER, i-D, DAZED, Mixmag, Stereogum, FACT, NPR, and many more. With tracks played across BBC Radio 1, BBC 1Xtra, BBC 6 Music, Capital Xtra, Beats 1, Reprezent, Rinse FM, KCRW, KEXP, Sirius XMU, and Triple J, and praise from the likes of Zane Lowe, Annie Mac, Benji B, MistaJam, Jason Bentley, Jamz Supernova, Lauren Laverne, Gilles Peterson, Huw Stephens, Phil Taggart and Danny Howard amongst others.

With a long history of working with boundary-pushing creatives across the worlds of art and design—including IB Kamara (i-D, Dazed, Vogue) and David Uzochukwu (Dior, FKA Twigs, Nike) on previous album “Season High” and on their new photobook, Vicki King on their “Lover Chanting” EP and Lena Mačka on their recent “Tongue Kissing” single—artwork for “New Me, Same Us” is produced by award-winning Swedish director, producer, screenwriter and animator Johannes Nyholm (who’s shadow puppetry short film ‘Dreams from the Woods’ was used as the music video for Little Dragon’s ‘Twice’). Using images from Swedish artist Wendy Arnehill, it is “a dive into her universe, from colourful abstract primitives to her very personal childhood memories. It's a story of everything and nothing, how a soup of nothing creates something, just like random abstract sounds can be combined into music.” 

Though their sound has morphed many times, one singular characteristic is that of Yukimi’s enchanting vocals. Speaking previously about her writing process, she noted that “I like any music I get from the guys that feels different, even in the sense of different to what they would usually do. I gravitate towards the tracks that are a little unexpected or that bring something out of me that's unexpected.” 

Being in a band with some of your closest friends for so long, often spending more time with each other than with your own family, they’ve had their share of disagreements over the years. “New Me, Same Us” however finds them with a renewed sense of kinship. “This album has been the most collaborative for us yet.” they explain, “which might sound weird considering we’ve been making music together for all these years, but we worked hard at being honest, finding the courage to let go of our egos and be pieces of something bigger.” 

The band have made the most of the travel restrictions of the last few years which has given them lots of time at home and in the studio and are looking forward to releasing new music in 2022 with Ninja Tune.