And now my heart's gone cold and the one who brings it back...is you

I wrote about Swedish singer Emilia de Poret's comeback back in September, but I've been holding off on writing about her again in hopes that I could actually link you all to somewhere to buy her music when I did so. In the time since that post, "I Can," her adorable poppy single, has come out, but only on Swedish iTunes, which means I can hardly suggest you all go buy it, can I? Still, with all these months having passed (to be fair, "I Can" only came out as a single in February, but it seems like we've been waiting for ages) and me still having no idea when her new album (or even the next single) will come out (her official site says the album is out in spring 2008, but I don't know if that's still happening given that "I Can" never properly took off in Sweden), I can't hold off on writing about her again any longer, mainly because of one song: "Pick Me Up."

If you haven't heard it yet--and some people have, since it's been up on her MySpace for a while--run over to her MySpace and listen to it--you will LOVE it. If Emilia releases it as a single this year, it will EASILY be one of the best singles of the year. "I Can" was all poppiness and adorabless and upbeatness, but "Pick Me Up" takes a beat kind of similar to the one in Diddy and Keisha Cole's "Last Night" (or if you don't know that song, I guess you can compare it to a Timbaland beat, if you have to) and then adds in some extra instrumentation--can I mention those guitars? and those strings?--so it doesn't feel quite as sparse (the beat in "Last Night" can set your nerves on edge after a while just because it's so omnipresent and there's nothing else to focus on; "Pick Me Up" doesn't have that problem) and so it becomes a lot more pop. It also has one of the best choruses you'll hear this year--really, it does. The whole song is great, though, with no weak section or elements; I love the bridge and the middle 8 in particular as well. It manages to pack just the right amount of emotional punch, too, as well as being very very catchy. If this song isn't a hit for her, something is wrong in Sweden.

Have you listened to it yet? You really have to. Please? Look, if you couldn't be bothered to click over to another site, here's a minute-plus long clip on YouTube:



The whole thing is playing on her MySpace, though.

It's pure pop perfection, the very thing the Swedes* are so good at, but it's not just for hardcore Swedish music addicts at all--it's really got a very "crossover" sound to it.

(FYI, Arnthor Birgisson is producing Emilia's album; she's worked with some non-Swedish writers, though.)