「要是你喜歡Sarah Records，喜歡簡單而清新的吉他音樂，或是陽光充沛的早上，甚至是繁星滿天的晚上。我想，你也會喜歡Club 8。」－－香港《MCB音樂雜誌》 如果說The Field Mice的首支單曲Emma's House，是啟發Club 8團員Johan拿起吉他彈起鍵琴，玩起獨立流行曲式的開端，那取自同名專輯的She Lives By The Water，便是自己重新認識Club 8的契機，尤其是樂團經過約兩年的沉潛。無疑地，Club 8早不見Nouvelle首張專輯時的青澀，在幾首Johan自認最喜愛的曲子當中，除了A Place In My Heart，其它像She Lives By Water、Love In December和Falling From Grace, Johan如大師般地計算製作，在曲子外衣上著了一層又一層朦朧水色，漫出柔如絲綢般地電音質感。 還是要聽聽Club 8的爵士流行招牌，到底成熟了多少。Boyfriends Stay放緩腳步的Bossa，與封面Karolina甜甜淺睡的面容映照，外頭的陽光催眠似地遙遠；短短50秒的兩首，London和I Don't Need Anyone，木吉他簡單地撩撥，學足偶像Blueboy，而Johan和Karolina則有默契地各唱一首。Hope For Winter從樂器裡出來的所有聲音，都像在雪地上輕輕印上雪痕，讓人打從心底裡伴著舒服。Club 8的專輯總是配合季節發行，第一張Nouvelle在夏天，第二張The Friend I Once Had在秋天，這張Club 8在冬天，最新的Spring Came，Rain Fall在春天，彷彿刻意安排的巧合，量身訂作各季節的心情；而Club 8也伴著自己，記錄了6年成長點滴。

1996年的夏天，Club8在致力于打造甜美午睡音乐的西班牙名厂Siesta推出了他们的首张专辑《Nouvelle》，当时Johan和Karolina刚刚20岁出头，是一对热恋中的情侣， Karolina嗓音细腻甜润、浅吟低唱，Johan兼任词曲创作和乐器演奏，纯情动听的编曲恰到好处地嵌合着他的小姑娘，罗致出年少清新的美感和眼神交错时的心动，洒满爱意。有人说，如果现在再听这张唱片， 20岁的声音似乎有种冻结时光的魔力，也许那时两人都希望能永远如此靠近吧，就像两张相邻的书页。由于深受英国传奇厂牌Sarah的影响，此时的 Club8被归类为Anorak Pop，Sarah——一个改变了一代人审美取向的独立厂牌，1995年，在发行完第100张唱片后宣布关闭，这也是他们在成立初期就立下的约定，从开始到结束书写了一剧现实版的童话落幕，除了留下100张低成本高水准的唱片外，也将其唯美抒情、宁静致远的艺术精神深植人心。Club8出现在Sarah关闭后的第一年，无论创作意向还是诗意的气息皆流露出Sarah音乐的遗风，而当年人们心领神会地用“穿着Sarah外衣的可爱乐队”形容他们时，显然已是一个非常隆重而默契的肯定了。 为了能够更直接地抒发真我情怀，Club 8离开了Siesta，投奔了一条DIY的自主之路，从此他们自行制作唱片，只交给唱片公司代为发行，并在1998年推出第二张专辑《The Friend I Once Had》，这时的Karolina和Johan已从恋人成为朋友，而这张专辑正是对这段恋情的追述和纪念。Karolina声音甜蜜如昔，而Johan明显变得强大，在或流畅或悲伤的民谣基础之上埋入温暖的空间感和不张扬但忧悒缠绵的吉他旋律，尝试了摩登电子，也体现了Birt Pop的风华，比起青涩之美的前作融入了更为丰富的变化，不仅仅只是流畅和令人动容的整体旋律，细节部分也谱写得端庄有余、富于韵味，显然他掌握了更多值得推敲和信赖的智谋，也让人不禁对其未来的DIY旅程有所期许，或许他会成为一个风云人物吧？

Club 8's Missing You: The Remixes rounds up various remixes and non-LP tracks by the excellent Swedish pop group. The Euro-disco mix of "Missing You" (the original mix can be found on 1998's wonderful The Friend I Once Had) is as glittery as a disco ball and as light as a feather. Junior Varsity KM turns the track into pounding dancefloor filler that twists the vocal into knots but keeps the melancholy mood of the original fully intact. The two previously unreleased tracks are low-key, melodic gems that should have found homes on the bands' albums proper. "My Heart Won't Break" has a heartbreaking vocal by Karolina Komstedt. "The Best of Seasons" is built on jazz-inspired guitar and chattering percussion and also has a great vocal. The remix of "My Heart Won't Break" by Sweet Trip glitches the song into murky little pieces and does really strange things to the vocal about two-thirds of the way through but also still keeps the spirit of the original. The best track is the last; the acoustic guitar-based "The Friend I Once Had" is taken from the March Records collection and sounds like an early Aztec Camera track with Roddy Frame replaced by Françoise Hardy. It is a heady mix and make one wish the band was always as good as this. That is another story, however. What matters here is that this EP is an essential purchase for Club 8 fans and should be investigated by fans of light and polite indie pop, especially by fans of Saint Etienne and the Cardigans who want to get a bit more indie.

《Nouvelle》是club 8 在96年出版的首張專輯，於西班牙清新獨立名廠Siesta旗下推出，當時兩人亦情侶、亦音樂夥伴的關係傳為一時佳話。 澄澈，水晶般透明無瑕，是Club 8微泛虹彩暈的色澤；平易近人的旋律內蘊靈動的感性，是他們觸人心絃的特質。這個一男一女的瑞典組合，總能熨貼受傷的情感。纖甜呢喃的女主唱Karolina Komstedt輕聲細訴著種種故事，沒有激情，卻多了一份釋懷似的遙想；Johan Angergard的器樂編排溫存而低調，配合著歌聲迴盪，淡雅 ......

Club 8's spring 2003 EP, Saturday Night Engine, is a turning point in the band's young career. This is mostly due to the title track. "Saturday Night Engine" is a song unlike any other Club 8 song committed to record. A pounding drum beat like a Swedish Northern soul stomper, gleefully twisting guitar lines, a fat and funky organ, and Johan Andergard's uncharacteristically excited vocals combine to make this a classic indie pop song. It is the first Club 8 track that makes you want to get up and jump around for joy. It is the first track that transcends their influences (Saint Etienne, the Cardigans) and sounds like a truly inspired band. The next track is closer to typical Club 8 fare; "I Have No Plan" is a dreamy ballad that shows off Karolina Komstedt's sultry vocals. Elsewhere the band dabbles in distorted, dramatic Slowdive-esque shoegazing on "So Tied Up"; hip-hop on the abbreviated "Giza"; glitzy Euro dance-pop on "People Who Would Go For You"; and otherworldly trip-hop with a country feel on the very good and quite-reminiscent-of-One Dove "Sometimes I Feel Like a Loser." The previous Club 8 record found the group to be repeating themselves and drifting toward boredom, but this EP bucks that trend in a very emphatic manner. The band sounds much more interested in arrangements and musical exploration here, the vocals sound inspired, and the songs are memorable. Fans of Club 8 who had begun to write the band off will be pleasantly surprised to say the least.

The second U.S. release by the Swedish duo Club 8 is more of the same kind of floaty dream pop that predominated on their self-titled American debut. Only this time, the floaty/dreamy aspects are emphasized, largely to the exclusion of the Saint Etienne-like electronic dance pop that lurked around the edges of the first album. Multi-instrumentalist Johan Angergard doesn't forgo his synths and drum machines entirely ("The Chance I Deserve," right down to its processed vocals, is pure late-'70s Eurodisco), but the songs are mostly based on subtle layers of acoustic guitars, hand percussion, and rubbery, surprisingly melodic electric bass. However, the real appeal of the album comes from Karolina Komstedt's pillow-soft, slightly accented vocals, which have the kitschy allure of Claudine Longet, only with better enunciation and much less tendency to go off-key. (As on the debut, the two songs sung by Angergard are the weakest on the album.) The songs are melodic, sweet, melancholy -- the duo ended their romantic relationship during the writing of the album -- and just this side of twee. Club 8 do the warm'n'fuzzy indie pop thing as well as anybody.

★ All-Music Guide音樂網站四顆星高評價肯定 Club 8－八號會所，發跡自西班牙清新廠牌Siesta的動人音樂會所。除了展現感傷之外對於美好流行旋律的熱愛，更在幾首流露Synth-Pop風華的作品中交織出Saint Etienne和Pet Shop Boys的流暢。

2002年的夏天，Club 8这张EP的发行让人惊喜，因为据上一张专集发行不到几个月的时间便有新EP问世实在是违反常规思维的一件事，尤其是对于Club 8这样的乐队，那就更有理由让人惊讶和惊喜了。 在Jahon的著名录音室Summersound里录制的5首清爽的吉他小品充满了夏天的味道：你可以因为听见“Things we share”而莫名欢快起来；也可以听着“Mornings”尽情发呆；你甚至可以听见不到2分钟的短小精湛的“You and me”里爽朗的口哨声下Jahon与Karolina轻声合唱（如果你是个熟悉Club 8的人，你一定会为此感动）；或者也可以是犹如冰咖啡般沁心凉的纯音乐小品“Sounds from the gulf stream”，你的幻听中是否出现了冰块除碰玻璃杯样清凉的声音，实在有理由让这些声音陪伴自己度过一个美好的夏天。

时隔5年的等待，Club 8终于带着他们的新专辑回到了大家面前。带着他们的美丽动人，带着他们的清新淡雅，带着他们的温柔闲适，来到了我们的面前。 《The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming》真是一张讨人欢喜的专辑。Karolina的声音依旧优雅飘逸，Johan的旋律依旧美好动听，两人的亲密默契的合作呈献出了一张充满甜蜜之味的秋日专辑。

戀上這個瑞典清新夢幻指標樂團的動人音樂會所 樂隊歷經巴西之旅 汲取融化70’s西非音樂色彩 譜出瑞典夢幻揉合非洲節奏般全新樂風 The Concretes , Camera Obscura , Ed Harcourt王牌製作人Jari Haapalainen保有Club 8迷離夢幻 炮製全然新穎聽覺感觸的性格轉化 “Unique mix of Swedish pop melodies and African rhythms." 當第一首歌曲Western Hospitality 輕快的旋律躍起， 接連曲曲不間斷南美和非洲傳送的熱情熱力，還有古巴敲擊樂手助陣而來的全新第七張專輯The People’s Record，總是清新飄逸的瑞典男女二人組合Club 8，與曾一手打造The Concretes復古迷人聲響因而聞名的製作人 Jari Haapalainen，一同把樂隊旅遊至巴西的陽光體驗，取來融合冰冷北歐的浪漫行徑，將樂隊出道以來前面六張專輯歷史的包袱，帶至全然新穎的境界。 然而Club 8詞曲創作者Johan Angergard 和女主音Karolina Komstedt也絕對不是像Stan Getz與Astrud Gilberto那般地爵士森巴，亦或是輕鬆搖擺的Bossa Nova曲風，專輯The People’s Record中引人入勝樂器音符的繁複交替，不論是來自於西非民族音樂影響，到一點點迪斯可舞曲和Kraut-Rock裡重複小節的借用，整張專輯樂型走向遠比英國樂隊Stereolab和Broadcast的實驗極微理論更加親人，像是歌曲Shape Up！與後首Be Mad, Get Ill, Be Still的繽紛溜轉，Back To A的手鼓跟吉他與Like Me薩克斯風清揚可人，以及Dancing With The Mentally Ill的疊步雷鬼，讓永遠甜美的Club 8，又多了鮮明深刻的印記。 聽見The People’s Record專輯裡豐富求變的新聲音，可以瞭解Club 8在夢幻印象框架下想要突破的企圖，到底在以往從歐美80/90年代舊唱片找尋靈感的同時，此次相異類別音樂素材的結合取用，無疑是相當奇妙且成功的嘗試，更為自身廠牌Labrador添上另一種聽覺感觸的性格轉化。