Nordic Spotlight
The best music and music festivals in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands
Last year, nostalgia for the ’90s reached a massive pop music peak with Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s “1999” song and video. The song is replete with references to boy band stars of days past, which the video matches with over-the-top costume design and choreography. It was so widely discussed and beloved that it became […]
Madeleine Grace is a Swedish/Congolese singer whose voice boasts the suppleness and heavenly aura of R&B luminaries. She uses this vocal talent to great effect on her recent single “Tombé,” which skews ever so slightly towards the realm of dancefloor bangers. The song initially lights up with a shimmering, radial melody that remains consistent throughout […]
Endings are seldom appreciated unless they’re immediately succeeded by the chance of renewal or rebirth. Both a TV finale and New Year’s Eve suggest the closing of a chapter, sometimes involving the loss of something special; only the latter, though, comes with the prospect of a new chapter. Though realistic hope for a new beginning […]
Ah, winter. It’s that wonderful time of the year when all the trees die, hot chocolate sales soar, and the mere thought of going outside sends shivers down the spine. During this grim, frostbitten season, it’s probably best not to set outside at all, instead clinging to blankets upon blankets and playing some wintery tunes […]
As the story goes, some industry insiders saw the Oslo band Spielbergs play a small venue way up north in Trondheim, and they were so blown away by the band’s set that they started a label just to release the power-punk trio’s music. It worked: Spielbergs’ debut EP, Distant Star, premiered inside a Stereogum Band to […]
Hanne Hukkelberg‘s “Stardust” sounds thoroughly 2010s, but she’s been putting out music—and receiving acclaim for it—for well over a decade. Actually, “Stardust” celebrates 15 years of Hanne Hukkelberg impressing critics such as Pitchfork and The Guardian, and it scans as the work of an artist unlikely to lose touch with what’s made her special from […]
On “Paper Thin,” Simon Lynge lays bare his vulnerabilities as he pines for better days. The song is a relatable, heartfelt proclamation that implores the listener to look ahead despite the onus that life can impose. The title is suggestive of the tenuous conditions that can be difficult to wrangle with when you’re beholden to […]
When you think of hotbeds for indie rock music motivated by loud guitars, cheap weed, and skateboarding, what places come to mind? California? Boston? Gothenburg? Okay, maybe not the last one, but MAUER, a new foursome out of the Western Swedish city, is trying its best to change that. With its newest single, “Furniture,” MAUER […]
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 […]
Though the Norwegian electronic outfit nylenda gleans its name from the Norse term for “new land,” the trio’s latest release is reminiscent of the three that preceded it in the best ways possible. The band has reappeared from underneath a haze of club fog with “Fires Light,” a triumphant continuation of extremely danceable form that […]