"I don't care if people have only heard the recent music," Yukimi Nagano told The Huffington Post when asked what it's like to see your 10-year-old band explode in a year or so. "But it is fun if people have followed the whole journey, or if they become curious and go back."
Little Dragon's music, spare yet mostly danceable, is a spacey blend of uptempo electropop and soulful vocals. It's all held together by Nagano's singing, though perhaps the most interesting thing about Little Dragon is how well they understand the value of the instrumental (on "When I Go Out" and "Please Turn," for example, the vocals pop in and out like the here-and-there blares of a jazz master's saxophone).
The band is Swedish, like Lykke Li and The Hives and Swedish House Mafia and Miike Snow, but to Nagano, it's all just music. "I think there's a lot of interesting music coming out of Sweden, but I find out more about it when I'm abroad than when I'm home," she said.
At what moments in a listener's life does the band picture their music playing? "Definitely everything from people listening in headphones going to work and escaping, that kind of feeling,' Nagano said. "But also at a party, cranked up, dancing. I think even if they're contrasting scenarios, as long as it's about releasing something and disappearing to another place, I'm okay with that."
Little Dragon's Erik Bodin's Exclusive HuffPost Playlist
1. Cajmere - It's Time for the Percolator
"It's time to wake up!"
2. Big Boi - Shutterbug
"Now it's really time to wake up!"
3. Cherelle - I Didn't Mean to Turn You On
"Some funky American '80s R&B."
4. Bill Wyman - Je Suis un Rockstar
"A silly song but a beautiful beat."
5. New Order - Blue Monday
"This song makes our bodies go crazy."
6. Frank Ocean - Thinking About You
"This song is our last."
7. Mike Francis - Survivor
"Sometimes lonely men in Italy get it right ... sweet Italidisco."
8. Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere
"Probably one of the most romantic songs ever."
9. Slum Village - Forth and Back
"This song was played on repeat for a long while."
10. Innocent - Addis Black Window
"Swedish hip hop from the '90s!"