Scandi band Little Dragon's sexy, subtle sound is infecting South Africans. Pearl Boshomane spoke to lead singer Yukimi Nagano ahead of their visit By this time next week, thousands of Cape Town and Johannesburg music fans will be in recovery mode after Little Dragon blows their minds with killer live performances.That's if the band's last South African tour (in August of 2012) is anything to go by.The Swedish quartet - whose sound is electro with a dash of pop, a drop of jazz, a dollop of indie and a pinch of hip-hop - will play two shows in the country this week. And it seems they are just as excited as their fans at the prospect.On the phone from the band's Gothenburg, Sweden, studio, Little Dragon lead singer Yukimi Nagano says the local shows will be among the last from their tour in support of their fourth album, 2014's Nabuma Rubberband."We've played a lot of festivals in the summer, and it was pretty hectic and we decided we wanted to end it all on a really good note. [South Africa feels] like the perfect place to do our last shows for Nabuma Rubberband," she says."South Africa this time is going to be great. We've had a few weeks home now, just sort of writing and chilling ... It makes it so much more fun to do shows when you're not overplaying."The last time the band performed in Joburg, they also played a free surprise show on a Sunday afternoon at Chaf Pozi in Soweto. Do they have anything similar planned this time around? "Not that I know of," says Nagano. The Soweto gig "was definitely a last-minute thing, but it ended up being a really special time".Nagano, whose band mates are drummer Erik Bodin, keyboardist Håkan Wirenstrand and bassist Fredrik Wallin, is a dynamic performer. The petite singer always seems to be enjoying herself on stage.Little Dragon released their self-titled debut album in 2007, with their second album, Machine Dreams, coming out two years later. While the band's profile was steadily growing, it was their collaboration with Gorillaz on two tracks from 2012's Plastic Beach that introduced them to a whole new audience.Having played together since high school in Gothenburg, Little Dragon didn't sound quite like anyone else when they began releasing albums. It was with their third album, Ritual Union (2011), that the band truly hit their stride and defined their sound: it was sexy, subtle, a little bit trippy and definitely infectious.Nagano says the band got more attention from the album, but she's not sure if it was when their sound became more defined."I'm a little bit scared to say that we've found our sound because I want to keep looking for it and keep searching for it, from an artist's point of view ... We're definitely still searching for our sound and want to keep developing it and challenging ourselves."story_article_right1The band are working on new music, but they're not sure when we can expect it. "You want to find the joy in it again. And if you find the joy in it then the magic starts happening. We wrote a lot of shitty stuff. You just get through all the shit to find the little gems. Especially if you want to try do something different or challenge yourself, it's the most uncomfortable place to be. It can take some time to kind of feel like you're getting somewhere. We've got a lot of sketches and we're just trying to have a good time in the studio."Do they write while on tour?"We've tried writing on the road a few times," says Nagano. "You usually go on tour with a lot of ambition to write and then you don't end up doing that as much as you'd like because you have to travel and the schedule is hectic. We kind of write when there's peace and quiet, when we're in our bubble - that's when it starts flowing, rather than in the midst of a thousand other things and being in a new place."I think part of the process of growing as a band is not saying yes to everything and not doing more than you can take."As for those who will be missing Little Dragon's South African tour this time around, Nagano says not to fret: "We'll be back for the next record."Little Dragon will play at Founders Garden (behind Artscape) in Cape Town on October 16 and at Carfax in Johannesburg on October 17 2015. Tickets R350-R425 fromWebtickets...