Nordic Spotlight
The best music and music festivals in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands
Sail by Summer describes itself as “melancholic,” but its recent single “Facing Dullness” doesn’t immediately portray the Norwegian-Danish duo’s sorrow. Under stuttering synth splashes, pitter-patter drum work, and squelching guitar notes often blanketed in reverb and phaser, “Facing Dullness” sounds convivial on first impression, just as the heftily produced art of a long-running, mainstream radio synthpop […]
Michael Rexen has traveled a ways to get here. The artist better known as M. Rexen was born in the United Arab Emirates before traversing the Middle East and Africa over many years. He ultimately settled in Copenhagen, and in Denmark, he’s already become known for the rambunctious live shows he and his ten-piece band […]
The only thing not Nordic about “Smyrneiko Minore,” a collaboration between Danish artist Nini Julia Bang and long-beloved Icelandic visionary Sóley, is the song’s origins. “Smyrneiko Minore” is a Greek traditional song, but that’s pretty much its only connection to the non-Nordic world. A Thousand Tongues, Bang’s debut EP from which “Smyrneiko Minore” is taken, features extensive collaborations with […]
From the very beginning of “Mike,” the most recent single by Danish artist Rebecca Maria Molina, it’s very obvious whom her newest song is about. “His name is Mike/He’s an underdog,” sings Molina (who uses her last name as her musical metonym) just under thirty seconds into the track. It’s tempting to assume that any song […]
A band with the word “bird” in its name has a song with the word “flying” in its title. So consistent it’s kitschy? Thankfully, not quite. Danish duo BlackieBlueBird‘s “Flying Too Close to the Ground” is as delicate as is its titular image, and its fragility is vital to its deeply human profundity. The first […]
You would expect a certain amount of ingenuity from a band named The Entrepreneurs, and on their new single, “Heroine,” the Danish rockers don’t disappoint. The second taste from their upcoming debut album Noise & Romance, this thunderous, six-minute behemoth is equal parts ‘90s pedal-driven guitar rock, sawtoothed post-punk, and crooning indie-rock love song, all […]
You might’ve noticed that we’re absolutely huge fans of Danish act CHINAH, a trio that warps electropop in ghostly directions while retaining the life-affirming, positive forces that pop music aptly provides. The band’s debut album, ANYONE, arrives this Friday, and to celebrate, we’re sharing “Real Thing?”, a recent single and album highlight. As with previous ANYONE single “Strange […]
No, Trentemøller‘s cover of Neil Young’s “Transformer Man” isn’t his first cover (not at all—he put out a full album of covers, Harbour Boat Trips 01 – Copenhagen, in 2009), but it sure is an interesting choice of Neil Young song to cover. Most folks know Young as the guy behind freewheeling rock hits ranging from […]
Leave it to the Danes to bring weirdness into electronic and pop music. Last month, we freaked out about how Danish trio CHINAH’s “Strange Is Better” subverted much of what we love about these genres to tremendously exciting and hooky effect; this month, Danish duo mono mono seems to be filling that role for us. […]
A double dose of Nordic artists here! Danish five-piece MALMØ has tapped Faroese singer Eivør for shared vocal duties on the song “The Way,” taken from MALMØ’s debut album, We Come from The Stars. MALMØ frontperson and namesake Maria Malmoe teams up with Eivør, known quite well for her work on Game of Thrones (a show that’s about as Nordic as […]