Nordic Spotlight
The best music and music festivals in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
Modern pop artists love a bit of the postmodern. Case in point is this new single from Norwegian artist Bellman. If you’ve listened to enough classic alternative rock in your life, you’ll recognize the lyric and melody being referred to in the chorus. (Spoiler alert: it’s a riff on The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.”) It’s […]
What feeling is Dagny talking about? Doesn’t take long to figure out when watching this video. She’s talking about L-U-V, friends. That giddy, punch drunk look on her face says it all. Can you feel it too? We sure can. And we can feel our absolute adoration of this brilliant Norwegian talent. We want nothing […]
Singer-songwriter Louise Lemón calls her music “death gospel.” How that translates to the real world is the spirit of soul music finding truck with dark, dark pop sounds that verge on the doom metal. Is it any wonder then that this Swedish siren was recently announced as one of the acts booked to play next […]
Out today through Brilliance Records’ fantastic singles club Diamond Label is this glorious piece of synth pop from Norwegian artist Margrete. The line on this young lady is that she stumbled upon GarageBand on her family’s computer at the tender age of 10 and started messing with making music not long after. Now 20 years […]
We’ve posted in the past about the greatness of Finnish avant garde ensemble Kemialliset Ystävät, but their genius goes beyond the work they do as a collective. It’s the music that their individual members make outside the fold that continues spreading the gospel of weird, wonderful sounds. That’s as clear as ever on the forthcoming release […]
Finnish electronic pop duo Hymner like to say that they make music in a “Scandinavian style.” Or as they put it recently, “melancholic indie with a beat that makes you wanna dance and leave your troubles behind.” Mission accomplished, gents, as your new song has us feeling carefree and ready to get on our bikes […]
The all-caps revolution in the Nordic nations continues with the appearance of Swedish duo WYRES. This little project is the braintrust of musician Fredrik Forell and singer/songwriter Arvid Jonsson. Both gents were involved in other artistic endeavors before deciding to join forces to bring about some electronic pop delights. Their first EP will be out […]