Nordic Spotlight
The best music and music festivals in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands
Diamond Club, the singles label that Norwegian label Brilliance runs, is having one mother of a hot streak. We’ve recently reported on Diamond Club’s stunners by Company Ink and Intertwine, and now, we’re stoked on the debut single by Bergen-based singer and songwriter MAIH. It wouldn’t be appropriate to label “Habits” as the work of […]
Daydreamer by The Age of Colored LizardsAlthough much of garage rock’s genesis can be traced back to the US and the UK, the past many years have often seen Nordic artists making some of the genre’s most compelling music. Case in point is Norwegian trio The Age of Colored Lizards, whose recent debut album Daydreamer is almost […]
Oslo-based newcomer Felix probably thinks you’re reading this on a phone. On “Put Your Phone Away,” a track from his newly released, aptly-titled EP Bedroom Recordings, he implores the object of his tale—presumably a romantic interest whose fixation on her phone prevents her from being mentally present in this moment they’re spending together—to, among other things, […]
Norwegian six-piece SKAAR makes music that’s appropriately layered for a group with two more people than in the standard rock band arrangement. SKAAR members include vocalist Karla Lesley Jaeger, who contributes solely her voice; Thor Saunes-Skarsgaard, who handles both bass and synth; and two guitarists whose only role is to play guitars. That’s right: SKAAR seems […]
We still think, “Oh wow, that last name is so Nordic,” every time we encounter Amanda Tenfjord. The thought is fleeting, though, because then we’re confronted with her music, and it’s always overpowering and all-consuming. “Let Me Think,” her newest tune, follows the R&B-infused coolness of her glorious “First Impression” from earlier this year; if anything, it amplifies […]
Sandra Kolstad is a classically trained pianist (whom we’ve praised before), but you might not immediately know this from her newest song, “Haflife.” Although the track certainly betrays the melodic instincts of a creator with extensive formal schooling, it’s built entirely on modular synths and Kolstad’s beaming, malleable soprano. Her next album, Burning Love, is currently […]
On Norwegian duo Misty Coast’s Bandcamp page, the band’s bio is just this quote from the always-trustworthy My Old Kentucky Blog: “Dreamy, psychedelic vibes are a necessary requirement of a balanced music diet and Norwegian duo Misty Coast, comprised of Megaphonic Thrift members Linn Frøkedal and Richard Myklebust, are the latest discovery keeping us healthy.” […]
SpaceX by Acres Wild As you might guess from its title, Norwegian band Acres Wild‘s newest song has something to do with Elon Musk. Namely, the track serves as the band’s official application to join Musk’s SpaceX outerspace transportation program. It’s generally safe to assume that a song with such an ironic premise isn’t going […]
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 […]
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 […]