DJ, show me some sympathy

I've been meaning to write about today's song for something like a week now. Melodifestivalen and life got in the way, but, as I try to distract myself from the fact that we've now heard all of the year's Melodifestival songs, today's a good day to return to Janet Leon.

Janet joined the Swedish girl group Play after one of its members departed. In the time since the group's members went their separate ways, she's still been around the the music industry, just doing less noticeable work. She got her chance to shine again when she was chosen to participate in Made In Sweden, a Swedish TV centered on the music industry. It featured Andreas Carlsson, Anders Bagge, and Laila Bagge, all members of the Idol jury, helping several acts create albums. One of those acts was Janet, who released the mid-tempo pop-R&B song "Let Go" as her lead single earlier this year.

For me, far more exciting than "Let Go" are some of other songs on her recently released debut album (well, sort of debut album--it's eight tracks long and will be reissued with more songs later, I believe). It will come as no surprise to you that I'm drawn to up-tempo tracks like "Heartache on the Dance Floor" and "Breakaway," but there are other good songs, too (the mid-tempo electronic but string-featuring "Anyway" comes to mind). Andreas, Anders, and Laila were clearly shooting to make music with an international-friendly sound and they get it right pretty often, even if they don't necessarily create anything hugely original. "Heartache On The Dance Floor," for example, slots nicely into the post-Rihanna's "Don't Stop The Music" landscape, bearing a beat with a resemblance to that song but being totally enjoyable on its own merits. "Breakaway," possibly the strongest track on the album, doesn't have any such similar-looking foreign siblings. That makes its hard synth hits and plethora of hooks even more enjoyable, even if many of those hooks come via repetition.

To buy Janet Leon's debut solo album, Janet, go here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: maybe an '80's-sounding Danish song, a German song I've mentioned multiple times, or a guitar-featuring Swedish song.