Shazam around the world: A Scandinavian tour
With Sweden as its engine, the whole of Scandinavia has established itself as a growing force in popular music with flourishing pop, indie and dance scenes adding up to their traditionally buoyant metal crowd. From the Balearic sound revival of Studio, Air France or The Tough Alliance, to The Knife’s leftfield electronica; the Nordic countries’ growing impact on Today’s international music has reached a new high, unseen since the days of ABBA.
Shazam embarks on a refreshing mini-tour through recent and imminent releases coming from those chilling territories.
Beginning with The Sweptaways, a 30-piece female choir from Stockholm specialized in choral versions of pop hits, from “Wuthering Heights” to “Time Of The Season”. Their colourful performances didn’t go unnoticed and a plethora of stars came in flocks for their second album, “The Sweptaways Show”. Among them, Nu troubadour Jens Lekman penned and co-performed “Happiness will be my revenge” for the occasion and current top female star Robyn helped covering the dancehall queen Lady Saw’s hit “I’ve got your man”.
Another Swedish avant-pop act, The Knife collaborator Jenny Wilson releases her second album “Hardships” already generating a big buzz locally and plenty of chances for a global assault. The former leader of First Floor Power went solo, exhibiting her unique presence and vocal capabilities through a range of influences as eclectic as personal.
Soon to be another collaborator of The Knife, Jonathan Johansson has been chosen as one of the singers for the duo’s forthcoming opera “Tomorrow, In A Day”, one of the most challenging cultural projects of 2009, based in the concept of evolution as described by Darwin. Before the rehearsals for the Opera, this singer from Malmö has released his second collection of eighties influenced, intimate electro-pop tunes, “En Hand I Himlen” earning rave reviews and cementing his position as one of the most promising new artists in Sweden.
One of Denmark’s most acclaimed bands in recent times, Mew, are preparing their comeback after successfully breaking into the live circuit both sides of the Atlantic, while touring to promote their former work “And the glass handed kites”. The follow-up “No More Stories” will arrive at the end of the summer, and its first taster , “Introducing Palace Players”, can be already heard online, laced with a darker, yet less epic sound, until Jonas Bjerre’s voice kicks in with his dreamy, ethereal quality, turning it into another memorable moment.
Also from Denmark, currently building up a huge critical following thanks to their original fusion of garage rock and metal elements with unusually rich instrumental arrangements –think of Tool meeting Tom Waits in a Einstürzende Neubauten gig-, Kellermensh, whose name is taken off the novel “Notes From Underground” by Russian master Dostoevski, flaunt their fierce attitude and intense existentialism in a debut album with results often as good as unpredictable.
And to finish our Scandinavian tour, the most popular act of the lot, Norway’s pop star extraordinaire Annie moves to Berlin and gets back in shape after her faux pas at Island records. The singer/DJ from Bergen, anticipating the long awaited follow-up of her successful debut “Anniemal”, releases “Anthonio”, a potential candidate for summer Song 2009, telling the story of a holiday romance turned sour, helped by Fred Falke and Designer Drugs in the remixes. To maximize its impact, in true soap opera manner, there’s also a musical answer signed by Anthonio “himself” appropriately titled “Annie”, in which the aforementioned heartthrob gives his version of their romance story.
