The Swedish quartet follow their new single, the catchy mid-tempo rocker Sweet Goodbye, with their third album, Ten Songs. The unpretentious album title, Ten Songs, is almost a declaration of intent. This is an album of the classic kind. The antithesis of overlong marathon albums that leave the listener exhausted, the band has collectively selected ten quality songs that makes you want to listen again. And again. Quality before quantity, in other words.

”The album is 38 and a half minutes long. You can listen to the whole album, including getting another cup of coffee, in less than 40 minutes” smiles Anna-Lena Winter, who sings, plays guitar and writes almost all of the material, which is then arranged by the members collectively.

Håkan Svensson and bassist Johan Strömberg produced the album, which was mostly recorded in an old, red mission house, Rackeby Chapel. One of its rooms turned out to have ideal acoustics for natural drum sounds.

The recording took place during several periods of 4-5 days, making it possible for the band to get away from everyday life, with arrends, telephone calls and other distractions. The sessions often took place in the night time, in front of an open fire or even under the moon.

”You get very close during sessions like these and things can go wrong if you're not a tight unit. All you can do is work, sleep and eat. And you had to 25 miles to be able to get food”.

It was during the recording of their previous album, the critically acclaimed Million Miles, that the band saw the upside of going away to record. The album was made in Kingston , New York , by Grammy winning producer Malcolm Burn. The critics were delighted and the title track received a lot of airplay.

Still proud of their previous album, Winter agree that each album is a sort of reaction to its predecessor.

”You want to make use of everything you've learnt and take it somewhere. We will always have textured guitars, create strong atmospheres and colour the music in different ways,. But Ten Songs also has a rougher, more direct, less polished production”.

The album covers a wide range of styles, several of which can be seen as Americana , but with an unusally strong emphasis on melodies. There is rootsy rock, biting ballads, leanings towards country and moody songs. Håkan and Anna-Lena exchange guitar licks over drummer Abbe Abrahamsson and bassist Johan Strömberg's organic interplay. On top of it all, Anna-Lena's characteristic vocals guide us through the stories. Her voice, both calm and warm at the same time, has its own musical fingerprint.

She writes from experience, albeit not necessarily always her own.

”It can be observations of people, stories and the world outside. I enjoy watching things from different angles. If there is a theme running through my lyrics it is that they are all actually about something. I never write a couple of ”cool sounding lines” just to have something to sing”.

The first song on the album, Faith, was one of the first songs that Winter recorded after Håkan had joined the band. It is also one of the clearest lyrics Anna-Lena has ever written. That it opens the album is no coincidence.

”We have nursed that song carefully, afraid to ruin it. It asks questions and possible even takes some risks. But sometimes you have to put your foot down. Many of us live in a, safe and well-protected part of world, but it's tough out there. It's a pity catastrophes have to occur before people start showing compassion and appreciating what they have”.

Artificial Love echoes of the psychedelic rock of the late 60's.

”It had a tendency to sound like a standard rock song, but then Johan and Håkan switched instruments and something happened. Sometimes limitations are what creates the excitement”.

The lyric may seem innocent at first, but turns out to be pretty in-your-face satire.

Shadow On The Wall is the only song not solely written by Anna-Lena.

”Håkan had written the music, which I loved, but it didn't have a real lyric yet. I liked the way it sounded when he sang it in a low register, and started imagining it as a duet, but without the typical ”I love you/I love you too” exchanges. I enjoyed having another lead vocal on the album!”

What, then, is it that makes Winter put so much care and heart into their music, even if it so far hasn't reached the masses?

”I think about that sometimes. It would be too easy to say that it's ”fun”, because it's a lot more complex than that. We feel that we have something truly genuine that we really care for. A lot of time and energy goes into keeping what we have alive. I think part of it is the challenge to keep developing as musicians and songwriters”.

Anna-Lena becomes quiet for a a few seconds.

”We are a band whose members like each other and enjoy playing together. No-one is doing this to become a huge rock star. We obviously want to reach as many people as possible with our music. But if our aim was to get rich, we would have chosen another type of music”.

Anna-Lena Winter doesn't sound bitter.

She sounds proud.