All by the glimpse of an eye

The artists competing in Melodifestivalen (Sweden's contest to decide who will represent them at Eurovision) were announced today (you can see who they are, what song they'll be singing, and the final they're in here--scroll down; it's not the top message--and read a little more about some people tipped to do well here; the wilcards haven't been announced yet, though). I'm really excited to get to follow Melodifestivalen and Eurovision this year, and there are a lot of artists to be excited about in the line-up. Today's post was inspired by seeing the name of this artist on the list (though presumably Therese, who is "featuring" in their song, will be doing the singing); it's earlier than I planned to write about them, as I just got their album yesterday, and I wasn't even sure if I should write about them at all (lots of excellent blogs have already done so), but they're too good to not mention.

Swedish duo the Attic, made up of Michael Feiner and Eric Amarillo, have been working together for several years, but, until recently, mainly on the songs of other artists (in fact, I posted one of their other songs earlier this year without even realizing it: their remix of Darin's "Who's That Girl," which I love so much more than the original); their debut album, The One, just came out this month. The One is full of dance-pop (or house/pop, as their description says) that is just entrancing. Their songs aren't just '80's-sampling gimmicks, nor are they really in-your-face dancefloor anthems, instead being classy but catchy, fun, always danceable, and practically hypnotizing. One of the songs on it may even win the award for my favorite title of the year: "Catch Me When I Fall For You." Choosing just a few songs to post was really difficult, and it's an album I definitely recommend picking up. I'm sure I'll end up reviewing it in the future, too, because (and I may be premature in saying this, only having listened to it for a day) it is one of the year's must-own albums.

In Your Eyes--a single that's still probably my favorite song by the Attic, even after listening to the whole album. This is going to sound crazy (and please don't be turned off by this), but I think it's the sexiest song I've heard this year (and sweetest, too)--it doesn't actually sound like it's trying to be, but that effortlessness makes it absolutely captivating. By the time we get two-thirds in and are hitting the high-pitched "wooo"'s, you're completely sucked in; it's danceable, mesmerizing, swirling, engrossing--everything you could want in this type of song.

The One--I ultimately chose this song because it's one of the catchier non-single songs on the album, and so might transfer better to the out-of-context, you-only-have-thirty-seconds-to-get-my-attention world. However, songs like "Minute After Minute," with its breathy, building, intimate-yet-distant gorgeousness, must absolutely be heard.

To buy the Attic's debut album, The One, go here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: maybe a boy band.