Lorraine

Whatever happened to Lorraine? The Norwegian trio attracted oodles of hype, nabbed a hit single and set the hearts of electropop fans all aflutter… before disappearing into the unknown. Now, just as we were about to banish them to the darkest recesses of our musical memory, somewhere between Lene Marlin and Lutricia McNeal, in all likelihood, they're back with a fantastic new single. The plan? As singer Ole Gunderson tells us, to bring a bit of "euphoria" into our lives.

We last heard from you about 18 months ago with the 'I Feel It' single. What have you been up to since then?
"Well, we've been doing quite a bit of touring in Norway and in the UK - support slots and stuff like that. Just recently we've been in the studio working on our album."

Have you changed record labels since the last single?
"No, not really. Not as far as I'm concerned - I don't really understand it all. We're still working with the same people. I think the setup is pretty much the same, even if it says something else on the record."

What's the new single 'Saved' about?
"We wrote the song a while ago and I don't want to say exactly what it's about. It's kind of about getting into some trouble that you enjoy being in - it could be anything. You're being dragged towards this really attractive entity that isn't good for you, and someone wants to save you, but you're saying 'I don't want to be saved'."

Have you been in that sort of situation recently?
"Not recently, no."

In your life?
"Maybe... but I haven't told you what it's about, remember?"

Your debut album will be coming out early next year. What can we expect from that?
"Euphoria - sounds of love and happiness. We've written lots of great songs - some uptempo ones, some ballads. There's stuff people will have heard from concerts, and some stuff that's totally new, but to me it all sounds like euphoria."

Who are your influences?
"I don't think you're influenced by what you say you're influenced by. You can say anything, and as long as I've heard of it, I might have been influenced by it. You know, what I'm listening to doesn't seem to affect my songwriting. I've never really known what my real influences are. I never put on a record and think 'Aha! I want to do what they're doing'. I think your influences are like echoes from the past - things you might have heard on the radio when you were three-years-old or whatever."

What will Lorraine bring to the 2008 music scene?
"We bring the best version of ourselves. We're not here to fill an empty void or to replace somebody. Lots of bands have that kind of approach - they think that they bring something that's missing. We don't think like that. There's no hidden message, no secret plan and no intention of taking over something or changing something."

You only want to give us euphoria...
"Ha ha! That's always good - that's what I want to bring to people."

Norwegian pop music's been a bit overshadowed by Swedish pop music over the years. Why do you think that it is?
"Has it? I don't know that it has. We've got Royksopp, we've got a-ha, we've got Lorraine... You know, a good pop song can be found anywhere. I've definitely heard a lot of good Norwegian pop music."

Will there be another single before the album's released?
"There's a new single coming out early next year, yes. We haven't quite decided to go public with it yet. I think I know which one it's going to be, but it hasn't quite been confirmed yet."

Do you get to make the final decision?
"I like to think that my voice has some importance within the band. Yeah, it has."

Is Lorraine a democracy?
"Yup, we're very taken with everybody in the band listening to each other and taking into account each other's feelings."

'Saved' is out now. Lorraine's debut album follows next year.