Sweden

H i t fac t s f r o m Th e S w e d i sh M us i c I n f o r m at i o n C e n t r e | 2 0 07
hit facts
Sweden
Photo: Press Image
“One of the 21st century’s
most adventurous trading
nations, with a commercial
influence that reaches far
beyond its population of
nine million”
BBC, Counter Culture
Cover photos:
| Hitby:Facts
The Hives - photo
Press Sweden
Image, Robyn - photo by: Fredrik Skogkvist, Katzen Kapell - photo by: Press Image
The (International) Noice Consoiracy - photo by: Glen E Friedman, Jens Lekman - photo by: Press Image, Ale Möller - photo by: Moa Karlberg
Photo: Jonas Linell
Jan Gradvall was born in 1963
and lives in Stockholm. He is
recognised as one of Sweden´s
leading rock and pop journalists for the last 20 years. In
2001, he was named Journalist of the Year by Sveriges Tidskrifter, a trade organization for
the country´s magazine press.
And in 2002, he was voted
Sweden´s top music journalist
in an industry poll run by the
trade journal Musikindustrin.
Gradvall currently covers media
and music for Sweden´s leading
financial paper, Dagens Industri, and also writes for several
style magazine such as Elle.
Swedish Music 2008
In the seventies, all you needed to define international Swedish music were the first two letters of the alphabet: back then, Swedish pop was spelt
ABBA. However, to encapsulate all that’s happened to Swedish popular music in today’s rich and varied musical climate you need all 26 letters
– and then some.
Reviewing a box from the Swedish indie-pop label Labrador on Pitchfork
Media in March 2007, critic Marc
Hogan wrote: “A complete history of
Swedish popular music would strain
even the most long-winded reviewer.
The Scandinavian nation responsible
for the coolly melodic pop of the Concretes, El Perro del Mar, Jens Lekman,
Love Is All, and Peter Bjorn And John
also brings us the unguarded cuteness
of Hello Saferide and I’m From Barcelona, the danceable insecurities of
Robyn and Sally Shapiro, the visceral
psych-rock of Dungen, and the Knife’s
2006-defining haunted house. Blame
Sweden, too, for Soundtrack of Our
Lives and Yngwie fucking Malmsteen. Good thing they’re peace-loving,
right?”
21st century Swedish popular music
has become just as globally widespread
as furniture from IKEA or clothes
from H&M. The BBC series Counter
Culture described Sweden as “One of
the 21st century’s most adventurous
trading nations, with a commercial
influence that reaches far beyond its
population of nine million”.
And ever since MySpace resculpted the
musical landscape, Sweden’s smallness
and geographical position is no longer
any disadvantage either. In cyberspace,
everyone can hear you scream.
It says something about how global
Swedish music has become that the
TV series The O.C. chose over a dozen
Swedish songs as the soundtrack to the
Californian life; or that Swedish music is used in adverts for international
products such as iPod (“Jerk It Out”,
The Caesars), Sony Bravia (“Heartbeats”, José González,) and Panasonic
(“When The Night Turns Cold”, Tobias Fröberg).
Anyone who reads the fine print on
CD covers will also find that Swedish songwriters, producers and musicians are also responsible for world
hits by performers as widely varied as
Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, Westlife,
Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and
Il Divo. Pseudonyms like Max Martin
and Bloodshy & Avant live and work in
Stockholm.
If there’s one thing that all this Swedish music has in common it’s the consistently strong and often minor-keyed
tunes. Just like in ABBA, there’s a pronounced vein of melancholy that’s possibly typical for Swedish music – echoes
of an idiom that can be traced back to
fiddle-based folk music.
It’s also remarkable how ABBA’s songs
refuse to leave the world’s radio stations, a presence that’s hardly likely to
wane now that the Hollywood version
of the musical Mamma Mia, starring
Meryl Streep, is due to open in August
2008.
Jan Gradvall
Hit Facts Sweden | | Hit Facts Sweden
Photo: Jonas Linell
Photo: Lindor Tidäng
Photo: Moa Karlberg
Photo: Press Image
The Hives
Club8
Ale Möller Band
Dark Tranquillity
Anna Ternheim
Photo: Press Image
“Thanks for saving
rock’n’roll”
Abalone Dots
myspace.com/abalonedotsmusic
ABBA’s Björn Ulveaus started as a folk
musician in the little picturesque coastal
town of Västervik. Now from the same
town come Abalone Dots, four women
who musically encapsulate their home
tracts in much the same way as Dixie
Chicks capture Texas or The Be Good
Tanyas Canada. All four sing and play
acoustic instruments, such as fiddle,
dobro, mandolin and double bass.
Ale Möller Band
myspace.com/alemoller
The term ‘world music’ has become too
hackneyed and nebulous to say anything about the music itself, but when
used to describe Ale Möller it takes on
a very definite meaning. Along with
fellow musicians hailing from Mexico,
Senegal, Canada, Greece and northern
Sweden, the Ale Möller Band makes
folk music that belongs to nowhere and
everywhere. Inquisitiveness and a faith
in the potential of the musicians is what
guides them.
Anna Ternheim
myspace.com/annaternheim
Blonde singer-songwriter, known for
her bittersweet melodies and increasingly experimental arrangements, who
has quickly become one of the biggest
and most acclaimed artists in Sweden.
Rolling Stone gave her second album
four stars, describing Anna Ternheim
as a “wonderful artist”. Sell-out tours
in many European countries.
Caesars
myspace.com/caesars
New York Magazine has called the
four-piecer Caesars’s garage rock,
fronted by a furious Farfisa organ,
“maddeningly infectious”. At home in
Sweden, the band first appeared under
the name Caesar’s Palace, but abbreviated it for legal reasons. Jerk It Out
has featured in an advert for iPod and
in over half a dozen Hollywood movies (Deuce Bigalow) and as many TV
series (Entourage).
Club 8
myspace.com/club8
With artists like The Radio Dept. and
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names,
Labrador has made a name for itself as
one of the world’s most influential indiepop labels. Club 8 is a duo comprising the
company’s owner Johan Angergård (also
of Acid House Kings and The Legends)
and singer Karolina Komstedt. Over the
years, Club 8 has taken its 60s-inspired
sounds from bossa nova to more contemporary, melancholic pop.
The Concretes
myspace.com/theconcretes
Homespun indie-pop from Stockholm
with an eight-piece band fronted by
three women: Lisa Milberg, Maria Eriksson and Victoria Bergsman. When
Victoria Bergsman left to pursue a
solo career as Taken By Trees, drummer Lisa Milberg, with her Nico-esque
voice, took over the mic. Had their
debut with an American recording
company, and now run their own label,
Licking Fingers.
Dark Tranquillity
myspace.com/dtofficial
As Popmatters.com writes: “The Swedish melodic death metal scene of the
1990s had a huge impact on those who
like their music with a crunch.” Dark
Tranquillity are veterans in the genre
and join their Swedish colleagues At
The Gates and In Flames as pioneers in
the more melodic side of death metal.
Have eight albums and world tours under their belts.
Dungen
myspace.com/dungen
Dungen is poly-instrumentalist Gustav
Ejste’s nickname and the name of his
band. The fact that Dungen sings in
Swedish has not prevented them from
making an international impact – on
the contrary, the music speaks quite literally for itself. The album Ta det lugnt
received rave reviews in the USA. With
influences from the psychedelic era of
the 60s and 70s, Dungen produces progressive rock for the 21st century.
Hello Saferide
myspace.com/saferide
Singer-songwriter Annika Norlin performs under two different monikers:
Säkert! when singing in Swedish and
Hello Saferide when singing in English. Made a name for herself when she
posted Highschool Stalker on the net.
The song subsequently popped up everywhere, from clubs in England and
blogs in Australia to Canadian radio.
The song Long Lost Penpal was featured in the HBO series Big Love.
The Hives
myspace.com/thehives
Following a Hives gig, Joe Strummer
(1952-2002) went up to the band and
said, “Thanks for saving rock’n’roll.”
Borlänge’s The Hives, who are forever
clad in black and white, have repeatedly
been voted as the world’s best live band.
In the early 2000s, after their breakthrough, the band made around 250 recordings a year. For their latest album,
The Hives developed their adrenaline-packed garage rock with the help
of, amongst others, hip hop producers
Pharrell Williams and Timbaland.
Hit Facts Sweden | Photo: Elin Berge
Photo: Press Image
Photo: Press Image
The Knife
Photo: Press Image
José González
Photo: Glen E Friedman
Katzen Kapell
Jens Lekman
The (International) Noise Conspiracy
| Hit Facts Sweden
“...and the tunes are
100 percent pop”
Frida Hyvönen
myspace.com/fridahyvonen
A charismatic and expressive pianistcum-singer from Robertsfors in northern Sweden. Frida Hyvönen has been
likened to Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell, even though she herself has never
been comfortable with these references. Contracted to Secretely Canadian
in the USA and to The Concretes’s
company Licking Fingers in Europe.
Toured the USA with Jens Lekman.
I’m From Barcelona
myspace.com/imfrombarcelona
The little town of Jönköping is known
for two things: The Cardigans and its
nonconformist churches. Jönköpingbased I’m From Barcelona combines
both. With its 29 members, most of
whom are in the chorus, they are like
an ecstatic church choir, but the attitude and the tunes are 100 per cent
pop. The band has attracted much public and critical attention abroad, particularly in England. Contracted overseas
to Mute.
The (International) Noise
Conspiracy
myspace.com/internationalnoiseconspiracy
Singer Dennis Lyxzén started in Refused, one of the world’s most influential hardcore bands. The title of
their swansong, The Shape Of Punk
To Come, proved prophetic. Dennis
Lyxzén’s other band, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, has been
taken underwing by Rick Rubin. The
band’s latest two albums were recorded
by Rick Rubin in Los Angeles.
Jens Lekman
Jenslekman.com
Singer-poet-songwriter from Göteborg who let the whole world into his
kitchen. Jens Lekman combines sunshine melodies with beats borrowed
from African soul music and American
soul music with lyrics on everything
from, to quote a review on Popmatters.
com, “eating bananas at 7-11, Jehovah’s
Witnesses interrupting birthday parties, breakups at protest rallies, and
cosy houses in the dead of the Scandinavian winter”.
José González
myspace.com/josegonzalez
Since releasing his debut album Veneer in 2003, José González has been
on a non-stop world tour. Everyone
from punks to Hollywood stars have
found themselves enchanted by the
Gothenberger’s almost whispering
music, which has featured in several
TV series, including The OC and Friday Night Lights. And who could ha ve
missed the advert for Sony Bravia, in
which 250,000 colourful balls bounce
down a street in San Francisco to the
strains of his rendering of The Knife’s
Heartbeats?
Katzen Kapell
myspace.com/katzenkapell
With accordion and fiddle upfront,
veterans Katzen Kapell play music
that’s just as evocative of Argentina and
Eastern Europe as it is of their Swedish homeland. It says something that
one of the band’s most well-known
songs is called Bukarest. The band lists
amongst its diverse influences Astor
Piazzolla, Kurt Weill and film-score
legends Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann. Toured the USA in the autumn
of 2007.
Kent
ing bilingual versions of two of their
albums, Isola (1997) and Hagnesta Hill
(1999), Kent has dropped the English
and has gone back to singing exclusively in Swedish. Ironically, this has made
the band more interesting overseas.
Swedish Kent encapsulates the national character and landscape in the same
way as Sigur Rós captures the spirit of
Iceland. Their music is a combination
of Nordic melancholy, modern electronics and timeless melodies. In the
autumn of 2007, the American TFT
label launched a reissue of all of Kent’s
Swedish language albums.
The Knife
myspace.com/theknife
The unique electronic brother-andsister duo of Karin Dreijer Andersson
and Olof Dreijer, who always perform
behind masks. Ultramodern production, with influences of everything
from Eurotechno to southern state
hip hop, combined with expressive
vocals reminiscent of Siouxsie & The
Banshees and Kate Bush. The Knife’s
Göteborg neighbour, José González,
recorded an acoustic version of the
duo’s Heartbeats.
Little Dragon
myspace.com/yourlittledragon
Singer Yukimi Nagano was first noticed as the guest performer with the
critically acclaimed Swedish new jazz
duo Koop. With Little Dragon she has
formed her own fine-tuned combo that
navigates between soul, jazz, and oriental music. The rhythmic palate they
use to paint their moods has earned
them comparisons with Bristol outfit
Portishead. Little Dragon have also
played with José González.
myspace.com/kentsweden
The biggest rock bank in Sweden this
past decade. After attempting an international breakthrough by produc-
Hit Facts Sweden | Mapei | Photo: Press Image
Photo: Marguerite Seger
Peter, Bjorn and John
Robyn
Lykke Li
Mapei
| Hit Facts Sweden
Photo: Fredrik Skogkvist
Photo: Johan Bergmark
“ABBA with balls”
Love Is All
myspace.com/loveisall8
A five-piece indie-pop band from
Göteborg, Love Is All first hit the scene
in 2004 when they got to make one of
the last Peel Sessions for legendary DJ
John Peel (1939-2004). Love is All is
fronted by singer Josephine Olausson
and is currently on contract with US
independent label What’s Your Rupture? A Love Is All track is included on
Rough Trade’s prestigious collection
Rough Trade Shops: Indiepop 1.
Lykke Li
myspace.com/lykkeli
The 21-year old from Stockholm who
has been compared to such diverse
artists as Feist, Björk and Alicia Keys.
Lykke Li shares a manager with Shout
Out Louds. Her debut album was recorded in New York with Björn Yttling
from Peter, Bjorn And John as producer. In one interview, Lykke Li said
that she “likes all music with feelings,
pain and cock in it”. It’s an attitude that
makes her music what it is.
Maia Hirasawa
myspace.com/maiahirasawa
Japaswedish Maia Hirasawa’s technicolour pop has been compared to Björk’s
It’s Oh So Quiet and artists like Rufus
Wainwright and Regina Spector. Maia
Hirasawa doesn’t only write, arrange
and produce all her music; on her debut
album she also plays most of the instruments. As a singer she has just as much
mastery of jazz as she does pop. Has
toured and played with Hello Saferide.
Mando Diao
myspace.com/mandodiao
A garage rock band group from Borlänge that lists John Lennon and Mohammad Ali as its chief influences.
Another comparison is early Oasis, not
least when it comes to self-confidence.
At gigs, Mando Diao has been whipping up a hysteria amongst its young
fans of near-Beetles proportions.
Breakthrough in Japan and Germany.
The singer’s two younger brothers play
in Sugarplum Fairy.
Mapei
myspace.com/mapei
At the end of the 80s, it was Swedish
born Neneh Cherry who personified
the contemporary scene. Today it’s
Mapei, Stockholm’s answer to M.I.A..
Under the heading Influences on her
MySpace page, she lists “Pop politics.
Flippin’ burgers. Characteristic cab
drivers. Apathy. Dungen”. Despite not
having released a record yet, Mapei has
been nominated as Sweden’s best live
performer.
Melody Club
myspace.com/melodyclub
British NME has described Melody
Club as “ABBA with balls”. The group
was handpicked by Kylie Minogue to
support her Greatest Hits tour. The
latest to discover the band’s updated
glam rock is skateboard legend Bam
Margera, who has included them on
his Viva La Bands, Vol 2 anthology
(which also features The Sounds and
In Flames, also from Sweden).
The Perishers
myspace.com/theperishers
Low-key pop combo from Umeå whose
mood-evoking music has been discovered by many US TV producers. The
Perishers’ songs have featured in Greys
Anatomy, Veronica mars, The O.C.
and One Tree Hill. When the group
toured with Sarah MacLachlan, they
sold up to 600 CDs per evening. Currently on contract to the US company
Nettwerk.
Peter, Bjorn and John
myspace.com/peterbjornandjohn
The duet Young Folks, with its characteristic whistling refrain, has been
called “the perfect pop song” and is
one of the 21st century’s most played
songs. NME named it their numbertwo single of 2006. The song has since
been recorded by Kanye West on a
mix tape and in German and Japanese
cover versions. For the past few years,
the trio has been on a non-stop tour.
Björn Yttling is also one of Sweden’s
most sought-after producers, and has
worked with Taken By Trees, Lykke
Li, Sahara Hotnights, Marit Bergman
and Shout Out Louds. John Eriksson is
one of the country’s most popular percussionists, and plays in the ensemble
Kroumata. Peter Morén once played in
The Plan, a band that won much critical acclaim in Sweden.
Promise and the Monster
myspace.com/promiseandthemonster
Behind the name is 19-year old Billie Lindahl, who, under the heading
Sounds Like on her MySpace page, has
written “nightmares”. Her gothic ballads recall Mary Shelley’s 19th century
and Stina Nordenstam’s 20th. Promise
And The Monster has supported Jens
Lekman and Mark Kozelek. Her label,
Imperial Recordings, also discovered
José González.
Robyn
myspace.com/robynmyspace
It might seem strange to call a 28-year
old artist a veteran, but Robyn has gone
through several incarnations as an artist.
Her debut album Robyn Is Here, which
she recorded when she was 17, earned
Robyn three Grammies in Sweden and
two Top-10 hits in the USA. Since having been called the Swedish equivalent
of R&B artists like Brandy and Monica,
Robyn has re-invented herself as something of a futuristic Kate Bush for the
Hit Facts Sweden | 10 | Hit Facts Sweden
Photo: Press Image
The Tough Alliance
Photo: Press Image
Photo: Press Image
Photo: Press Image
Teddybears
Studio
Timbuktu
Photo: Press Image
“...a one man The
Mamas & The Papas”
21st century’s club scene. The song Be
Mine was spread on music blogs the
world over in 2006. In August 2007 she
took With Every Heartbeat to no. 1 in
the British singles charts.
circles. Studio takes pop from Hacienda via Ibiza to 21st century Sweden,
and has been acclaimed for its remixes
for bands like Shout Out Louds and
Love Is All.
Sahara Hotnights
Sugarplum Fairy
Four young women from Robertsfors
in northern Sweden who have been
playing together since the age of eleven. Since their album debut in 1997,
the band has grown from strength to
strength. Since having been compared
to The Runaways they have taken the
step towards more mature and playful
pop with references to Stevie Nicks,
ABBA and Bryan Ferry. All Sahara
Hotnights’s albums have gone gold in
Sweden.
myspace.com/sugarplumfairyborlange
Victor and Carl Norén in Sugarplum
Fairy are the younger brothers of Gustaf Norén in Mando Diao. The Norén
brothers all grew up with the Beatles
and the Stones, but are also influenced
by Oasis and by the attitude and sense
of nowness of hip hop. While Mando
Diao has become best known for its upbeat style, Sugarplum Fairy has found
greatest success with epic ballads.
Shout Out Louds
myspace.com/shoutoutlouds
An indie-pop group from Stockholm
that has played live on both the David
Letterman and Jay Leno show. Rolling
Stone has described the band’s sound
as “neo new-wave integrated with AltCountry and adrenaline-filled Strokes
guitars”. Many have even drawn parallels with The Cure’s more poppy side.
Ted Malmros in Shout Out Louds directed the MTV award-winning video
for Peter, Bjorn And John’s Young
Folks.
Studio
myspace.com/sstudio
One of Studio’s songs, Life’s A Beach,
took its name from a Factory Record’s
compilation dance album. The legacy
of the Manchester scene and its relationship with dance music rematerialises in this duo from Göteborg’s arty
Taken by Trees
myspace.com/takenbytreesmusic
A one-woman project by Victoria
Bergsman, artist from Stockholm and
former singer in The Concretes. To
date, Victoria Bergsman’s voice is most
familiar as the other half of the duet in
Peter, Bjorn And John’s world hit Young
Folks. Her debut album as a solo artist
has also been produced by the trio’s
Björn Yttling. Taken By Trees has a
contract with English Rough Trade.
Teddybears
myspace.com/teddybears
US magazine Paper said of the Teddybears that “they write punk songs. With
dance beats. And it works”. Teddybears
started life as a hardcore band in Stockholm, but had their breakthrough with
their eclectic blend of club and street
music. Iggy Pop features on their
Punkrocker. Jocke Åhlund is also in
the garage band Caesars. His brother,
Klas Åhlund, is a producer, who can list
Robyn as one of his artists.
Timbuktu
myspace.com/timbuktuonline
Jason Diakité, born in 1975, grew up in
Lund in southern Sweden with American parents. His father’s family has its
roots in Timbuktu, Mali – hence his
stage name. Many rappers in Sweden
perform in English, but the most respected and popular rap in Swedish.
After a string of hit albums from the
2000s, Timbuktu has made a name as
Sweden’s leading rapper.
Tobias Fröberg
myspace.com/tobiasfroberg
A critic for the English Word Magazine wrote of singer-songwriter Tobias
Fröberg’ second album: “I’m honestly
starting to think it might be one of the
greatest records ever made”. An American magazine has described his California-inspired sound as “a one man
The Mamas & The Papas”. Alan McGee (Oasis) has said: “Tobias Fröberg
is Scandinavia’s next superstar”.
The Tough Alliance
myspace.com/toughalliance
For one shot, The Tough Alliance
posed holding baseball bats. This was
enough to fix the media image of the
duo as soul-loving football hooligans.
On their albums, The Tough Alliance
have played the Northern Soul classic
Mine Was Real and rapper 50 Cents’s
Many Men. Their own work is pure
digital dance music with refrains so
simple they could have been composed
by Liverpool’s Kop.
Hit Facts Sweden | 11
Useful addresses & LINKS:
Swedish Music Information Centre
Box 27327 • Sandhamnsgatan 79 • SE-102 54 Stockholm
Tel: +46-8-783 88 00 • Fax: +46-8-783 95 10
E-mail: [email protected] • Internet: www.mic.stim.se
STIM
Box 27327 • Sandhamnsgatan 79 • SE-102 54 Stockholm
Tel +46-8-783 88 00 • Fax: +46-8-662 62 75
E-mail: [email protected] • Internet: www.stim.se
Export Music Sweden
Box 27327 • Sandhamnsgatan 79 • SE-102 54 Stockholm
Tel +46-8 783 88 00 • Fax:+46-8-783 95 10
E-mail: [email protected] • Internet: www.exms.com
Concerts Sweden
Nybrokajen 11 • SE-111 48 Stockholm
Tel +46-8-407 16 00 • Fax: +46-8-407 16 50
E-mal: [email protected] • Internet: www.rikskonserter.se
Music from Sweden on MySpace
www.myspace.com/MusicFromSweden
Royal Swedish Academy of Music
Sweden.se: music
www.sweden.se/music
Blasieholmstorg 8 • SE-111 48 Stockholm
Tel +46-8-407 18 00 • Fax: +46-8-611 87 18
E-mail: [email protected] • Internet: www.musakad.se
SAMI
Döbelnsgatan 3 • SE-111 40 Stockholm
Tel +46-8-453 34 00 • Fax: +46-8-453 34 40
E-mail: [email protected] • Internet: www.sami.se
Swedesplease
www.swedesplease.net
It’s a Trap
www.itsatrap.com
Swedish Broadcasting Corporation
Absolut Noise
absolutnoise.blogspot.com
SE-105 10 Stockholm
Tel: +46-8-784 50 00 • Fax: +46-8-663 19 40
Internet: www.sr.se
Hello! Surprise!
http://www.hellosurprise.com/
Swedish Music Information Centre
Box 27327 • Sandhamnsgatan 79 • SE-102 54 Stockholm
Tel: +46-8-783 88 00 • Fax: +46-8-783 95 10
E-mail: [email protected] • Internet: www.mic.stim.se
Swedish Music Information Centre is concerned with the documentation and the spreading
of information of contemporary Swedish music, and is financed by STIM and the Swedish government.
Editorial staff: Kristofer Kebbon, Jan Gradvall. Translation by Neil Betteridge.