The Best in Nordic Music, Music Festival and Travel!
I Am Karate (SE) – “News”
Sometimes, it feels like vanity on social media is a distinctly American phenomenon. Reality TV and celebrity culture is strongly rooted in the United States, where children indirectly learn from a young age that money, success, and fame are directly correlated, if not outright equivalent. What’s more, social media’s leading platforms were invented here, and […]
Intertwine (NO) – “Let Go”
Norwegian label Brilliance is a bit like the Nordic version of beloved American label Cascine. Each seems to specialize in its own certified cocktail of electronic music whose distinct bliss comes from stirring elements of ambient production and electronic arrangements into pop music structures. The labels also share an artist in common: longtime Nordic Spotlight […]
LEW (DK) – “You Said”
We’ve previously lavished Danish artist LEW with praise; back in 2016, we premiered her single “Lights On.” Some two-and-a-half-years later, we’ve heard from Sara Lewis Sørensen again via a haunting ballad called “You Said” that makes us beyond happy she’s back. It also makes us quite sad. LEW songs are generally dejection parties; Sørensen is an […]
Company Ink (NO) – “Crew”
The always-reliable Norwegian record label Brilliance also houses a singles-only label named Diamond Club; ostensibly, it’s titled as such because it’ll only release singles that are absolute gems. If Norwegian band Company Ink‘s “Crew” is any indication, then Diamond Club is indeed releasing solely utter stunners. It’s not often that Nordic artists so completely nail […]
Tuomo & Markus (FI) – “Vanity Blinds”
Happy album release day to Tuomo & Markus! The Finnish duo, whom we first encountered at SXSW 2017 and have since loved, today release their debut album, Dead Circles, via Grandpop Records. Tuomo & Markus (jazz/soul artist Tuomo Prättälä and singer-songwriter Markus Nordenstreng) are among the wave of artists not based in America that love Americana music. […]
CHINAH (DK) – “Strange Is Better”
CHINAH, a Danish electropop trio about whom we’ve been raving for a while now, is setting the bar pretty high with its newest song’s title, “Strange Is Better.” It’s almost as though CHINAH—whose members are frontwoman Fine Glindvad, guitarist Simon Kjær, and producer Simon Andersson—is fully aware of how bizarre and amazing its most recent […]
Bah Non (SE) – “homonym modulation”
Mysterious Swedish newcomer Bah Non describes his newest song “homonym modulation” as “a ride through the emotional roller coaster of a recent difficult break up.” Although the electronic artist’s apparent debut single moves across six minutes of ambient sear and waveform digital bloops without so much as dropping a single drum beat or finding anything […]
Lusitanian Ghosts (SE) – “Past Laurels”
The man behind Lusitanian Ghosts, Neil Layton, may have his roots in Portugal and Canada, but his music is deeply embedded in the Nordic nations. He surrounded himself with Swedish artists and instrumentation for his last album The Betrayal of the Self (released under his own name) and brought some of that to bear on the […]
Tove Styrke (SE) – “Sway”
You should be able to tell where this video is leading. The starry-eyed lyrics that Swedish popster Tove Styrke sings throughout is a clear indication: this is a clip about love. Does that make any less powerful and lovely? Hardly. This amazing short film, directed by Joanna Nordahl, is just another feather in an already […]
NONONO (SE) – “Friends (Hillbom Remix)”
What’s better than just one great song from a Swedish artist? When that song is remixed by a different Swedish artist! The artists in question are the delightful pop trio NONONO and the up-and-coming electronic producer Hillbom. In the latter’s hand, the original song becomes a new entity. He pitches down singer Stina Wäppling’s vocals, […]