Mexican group Belanova's new single, "Nada de más," comes out August 2, apparently. You can listen to a clip below. It sounds pretty fantastic, but then again, I would expect nothing less for the lead single for their new album, Sueño Electro I.
Swedish singer Nanne's new album, En Rastlös Själ, comes out October 6. It's been preceded by the singles "Otacksamhet" and "I Natt Är Jag Din," with one more, the title track, to be released August 18. The cover of the album is at left and the single cover can be viewed here. Other upcoming Swedish albums you may be interested in: Darin's Lovekiller (August 18), Ola's new album (September 15--at least, that's what I read at one point, but Ola now says that it's only 28 days away), and Robyn's Body Talk Pt. II (September 6 internationally). You should be able to buy all those albums from Bengans, though Ola's album isn't listed yet and it probably makes more financial sense to buy Robyn's album from a music distributor in your home country.
The third proper single from the reformed a1, following on "Take You Home" and "Don't Wanna Lose You Again," is "In Love And I Hate It." It's out August 4 in Norway, but the group has been performing it live recently. If you want an advance feel for what it sounds like, here's one such performance.
You know "Champagne Lemonade," that great new song from upcoming British singer Ed Drewett which I wrote about a month ago? It's co-written by Tim Powell of Xenomania. Now we know why it's so buzzily fun. Unusually, for a song coming from a member of Xenomania that we actually get to hear, its only authors are Tim and Ed.
Ola's new single is both unexpected and expected; it's a departure from his usual sound, especially in the acoustic verses, but with all the references he's been dropping about it sounding different and the writers involved, it's not that surprising. The chorus is still pleasantly poppy, based around a stuttery recitation of the word "overdrive" and with more electronic instrumentation than the parts of the song that surround it, and decently catchy. It's kind of like a less joyous, more acoustic "Feelgood," and, to be honest, neither of those descriptors is what my ideal Ola song sounds like (weren't the joy and the electronic production some of the best things about "Feelgood"?). Still, I could see myself enjoying it on the radio, and certainly imagine having it stuck in my head. Less "frolicking on the beach in a music video" and more "sitting around a beachside campfire."
The third track on his new EP, "Still Remember," is by Ola, respected pop songwriter Alexander Kronlund, and Ali Payami, more famous for remixes, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was produced by KeiOne. It's got a slight R&B tinge to it (though it switches over to rock for the middle 8) and a nice little pseudo-sample. The lyrics are silly in parts, but it's enjoyable, if once again the mid-tempo side of Ola.
I'm glad to have the aforementioned two songs as nice little bonuses in advance of the album, but it's the EP's second track that will probably take the early playcount lead on my iTunes. Like Ola's Melodifestival entry this year, it too is by Alexander Kronlund. WithTony Nilsson also on board, it's much in the vein of what you'd expect a collaboration between those two writers to sound like: über-poppy, very "produced" in sound, uptempo, and--of course--catchy. It feels a little less like some reimagining of an '80s hit than some of Ola's previous tracks, but it does keep Ola in line with what I've always seen as the best thing about him: he's a vehicle for excellent teen pop, a spiritual successor to the songs we all loved in the late '90s and early '00s. "All Over The World" is certainly glossy pop, "cheesy," if you will, but it's not really all that sugary thanks to its pulsing production. That joy we were talking about earlier? It is--blissfully, thankfully--here, especially in a tension-building middle eight. Maybe not quite on the level of, say, "Forever," but it channel similar dancefloor euphoria vibes.
You can buy a physical copy of Ola's new single "Overdrive," an EP which includes two other new songs and a remix, here.
A few bits of news I mentioned on Twitter that I feel bear repeating over here:
Darin's new album finally--finally!--comes out August 25. Nearly a perfect birthday present. The more time that passes, the more time I'm inclined to think "You're Out Of My Life" is my favorite Melodifestival entry from this year, though that's not to say I would have wanted it to win. I realize that it's just a big sparkly '80s adult contemporary power ballad, but THAT'S WHY I LOVE IT. More songs that channel this style, please, Misters Nilsson and Janson.
As a brief recap, songs from this era include Darin's cover of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida;""You're Out Of My Life;" "Drowning," another Tony Nilsson/Henrik Janson song which we've heard Darin working on in studio (it sounds very much in keeping with "You're Out Of My Life," which I love); and "Only You Can Save Me," which he's performed live acoustically (the melody sounds lovely) and with more accompaniment. It could be premature to judge based on only a few songs, but we've yet to hear anything of the uptempo urban pop variety, so this could be pretty different from Flashback. Hopefully there will be at least a few songs that leave you wanting to dance; he has mentioned an uptempo song written by Tony and Henrik at least once. EDIT: at least one Swedish source reports his next single will be called "Lovekiller" and is released to radios soon. That would be an unfortunate coincidence given the release of the Style single of the same name, so I want to verify that there wasn't just some confusion on the part of the journalist before I say that that fact is 100% certain. Stay tuned... Edit 2: just confirmed that Tony Nilsson did write a song for Darin called "Love Killer," so the news about that being a single and at radios shortly must be true. Maybe it's that aforementioned uptempo song.
Ola's new single, "Overdrive," comes out this Wednesday. The digital single will include two additional new songs from his upcoming album, though he's once again tried to emphasize the album being varied in sound and that these songs don't represent it. I'm worried about "Overdrive," to be honest, but I'll be keeping an ear out regardless.
I feel as if I read this somewhere else a while ago, but since today's such a summery day, here's the possibly old news anyway: Timoteij's new single looks to be "Högt Över Ängarna," which is a choice I'm pretty happy about. Längtan has other options, sure, but the song is still great sugary girly pop.
This Saturday will mark the first semifinal of 2010's Melodifestival, so, as usual, I'm doing my Sunday-in-advance rundown of the artists and what we know about the songs (which isn't nearly as much as we'll know when rehearsals start or when song clips go up). Six of the eight artists are new to the contest and, while the proportion of new songwriters isn't as high, there are still quite a few debutantes in that regard as well. We do have three new-to-Melodifestivalen hosts, too: Måns Zelmerlöw, Christine Meltzer, and Dolph Lundgren.
(To be honest, there's not too much new here compared to my preview a few months ago, but I've added new information and thoughts where possible).
1.) Ola Svensson, "Unstoppable" (t & m Dimitri Stassos, Alexander Kronlund, Hanif Sabzevari, Ola Svensson) Former Idol contestant Ola really became popular with the release of summer single "Natalie," and since then he's continued in the upbeat boy pop vein, a sort of modernized teen pop meets strong pop beats sound. Strangely, the Melodifestival album and the single list the full name of his entry this year--his second time in the contest, after reaching the second chance round two years ago with "Love In Stereo"--as "Unstoppable (The Return Of Natalie)."
Unlike all but one of his singles since "Natalie," "Unstoppable" isn't written and produced by the team of Tony Nilsson and Peter "Bassflow" Boström. Dimitri Stassos is a frequent contributor to Eurovision national finals, often doing songs with a Greek flair (like Sofia's entries in Melodifestivalen and Soraya's Eurovision entry last year), but he did work with Ola on his less noteworthy debut album. His songs are often enjoyable but I'd still be a bit nervous if it was just his name in the credits; luckily, Alexander Kronlund, collaborator on Cheiron classics and of more recent work with Linda Sundblad, Sugababes, and Robyn, is backing him up, which has me excited. This song, described by its writers as modern, uptempo radio hit that is a harder sound for Ola, has buzz which it suggests it's as good as "Natalie." Though personally I'd rather hear it's as good as "S.O.S.", another Ola hit, this is still one of my most anticipated entries of the year. Please deliver, guys!
To watch: I should really embed his performance of "Love In Stereo" to give you an idea of his live vocals (passable but iffy), but I'll rep for "S.O.S.", one of the best pure pop songs of the past five years, any opportunity I get, so that's what's below.
2.) Jenny Silver, "A Place To Stay" (t& m Torben Hedlund) I wasn't previously familiar with Jenny, who had a career in dansband-style music back in the '90s, partly as a member of the group Candela. She then switched over to a fuzzier pop-rock sound--a little bit punky, a little bit '80s--as the lead singer of the band Holden, though she didn't equal her '90s success.
From the sounds of it, though, "A Place To Stay" is more in the style of its songwriter's musical career than Holden's: Torben Hedlund used to be a member of Bobby, a group which was certainly not afraid of synths (check out "She's History"). Had I realized that earlier, my excitement back in my first rundown would have been more significant. At least in the song's demo form, it was, in Torben's words, an "ambient dance/house song. He's also said the song is dark, minimalistic, melancholy, and hopeful, the sort of song suitable for the clubs and for making people feel sexy.
To watch: it probably doesn't indicate the style of her entry at all, but for an idea of Jenny's look and voice, check out a very recent performance of "Sweet Caroline."
3.) Linda Pritchard, "You're Making Me Hot-Hot-Hot" (t & m Tobias Lundgren, Johan Fransson, Tim Larsson) Linda, a contestant in the early stages of Idol, is likewise only in the early stages of her commercial music career, having released her debut single, an R&B cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." You can't say she's an established artist yet, not having had any substantial success in Sweden yet...
...but with these songwriters behind her, I'm very excited to hear her entry. The makers of Linda Bengtzing's "Alla Flickor" and "Hur svårt kan det va?", Alcazar's "Alcastar," Jessica Andersson's "Källa natter," and other modern Melodifestival classics (as well as a few less beloved songs), they're one of the sets of songwriters guaranteed to make me take notice. They say their song this year is uptempo pop in a Latin style; as I've said before, I'd rather they left off the "Latin style" part, but I'm still hopeful of quality, even though it's a replacement for the disqualified "Never Heard Of Him." Linda describes her song as a swinging, dance-inducing party song with a heavy rhythm. Linda has been preparing her debut album with the team that produced her lead single, which, sadly, isn't the Örebro gang who are behind this single.
To watch: it probably should be the music video for Linda's single "Fast Car," but I'm going with her singing another song from her upcoming album, "Rise Again"
4.) Pain Of Salvation, "Road Salt" (t & m Daniel Gildenlöw) Rock band Pain of Salvation is another act I hadn't heard of before, but then again, I'm not very tuned into the Swedish rock scene outside of chart hits. They're much darker and grungier than I prefer my rock to be, to be honest; I tend to prefer my rock anthemic, not unsettling. Not a judgment on their style of music, just a recognition that it doesn't often overlap with my taste.
The group's singer and songwriter, Daniel, describes "Road Salt" as a rock ballad, not hard but quiet, delicate but refusing to give up. He says it's about constant dejection and is tear-inducing.
To watch: I could have gone with some of their more typical, harder stuff, but since they say the song is quieter, here's "Undertow"
5.) Anders Ekborg, "The Saviour" (t & m Henrik Janson, Tony Nilsson) Anders Ekborg and "The Saviour" replaced the disqualified "Åt helvete för sent." Anders is a theater star making his Melodifestival debut.
Henrik and Tony wrote Ola's 2008 entry "Love In Stereo" and Tony has almost all of Ola's "Natalie" to now singles, as well as Elin Lanto's "Discotheque" and Johan Krafman's "Disarmed and Chain Reaction" (amongst other songs). They say "The Saviour" is a cross between Freddie Mercury and Pavarotti, with the subject matter of saving the world with music. Anders says it is grand and difficult to sing.
To watch: well, since the writers made a Freddie Mercury reference, here's Anders singing "We Are The Champions"
6.) Jessica Andersson, "I Did It For Love" (m Lars "Dille" Diedricson, t Kristian Wejshag) Lovely Jessica, a former Fame Factory contestant, returns to Melodifestivalen for the fifth time. The first two were as a member of the duo Fame, which won Melodifestivalen in 2003 with "Give Me Your Love" and took "Vindarna vänder oss" to the finalsin 2004. She hasn't been so lucky as a solo act, not making it out of her semifinal in 2006 with the fantastic Rachel Stevens-esque "Kalla Nätter" and making it to the second chance round in 2007 with the disappointing "Kom." I spent years praying for an album from her, but when that album finally came this past fall, it was all '60s-style retro pop--disappointing again, when Jessica by rights should be a great popstar.
There is positive buzz around her entry this year, a song which its writers (including Lars, a frequent contributor) and singer say is an emotionally-charged, big, beautiful, simple ballad about the pain and dejectedness of a love story. It's not necessarily in the '60s style, Jessica says. Still, I'd be more enthusiastic if this was another killer uptempo schlager or modern pop song (though Jessica has apparently been trying to distance herself from the schlager label).
To watch: Jessica awkwardly trying to make the short-shorts jumpsuit and chair routine work in 2006 with "Kalla nätter." She may be model gorgeous, but she was obviously uncomfortable, maybe explaining the song's failure to progress. She really does have stage presence in the right situation, but I think she may have been missing her security blanket of former Fame partner Magnus Bäcklund.
7.) Frispråkarn, "Singel" (m Hamed KeiOne Pirouzpanah, t Håkan Bäckman) Rapper Frikspåkarn makes his Melodifestival debut with a song by Hamed, who has worked on some R&B and hip-hop songs you probably wouldn't have heard of unless you listen to that part of the Swedish music scene. He often mixes in a significant electro element into those songs, though, and his work on Ola's "Sky's The Limit" and (yes, I'm mentioning it again) Adam Tensta's "80s Baby" gives me some hope for something at least kind of interesting. Rap is pretty far outside of the Melodifestival norm, though there always seems to be at least one rap entry this year, so it's always kind of tempting to view these entries as just the attempts of the contest's managers to show "diversity." Anyway, Hamed says "Singel" is a mix of hip-hop and R&B with crazy dancey beats and vivid lyrics and Frispråkarn says the lyrics are personal, about his lvoe life, and I'm decently hopeful we could get something with a decent instrumental backing, even if it will be no contest favorite and the lyrics might not be what I'd choose.
To watch: the music video for Friskpråkarn's single "Nästa tåg nästa buss." Decently catchy, no?
8.) Salem al Fakir, "Keep On Walking" (t & m Salem al Fakir) Singer-songwriter Salem is two '70s-ish, orchestral-souding, piano-based albums into his critically-approved career, with a third album due to be released in conjunction with his participation in Melodifestivalen. Salem says "Keep On Walking" is in his style, but since he's also been talking about a more electronic direction for this new album, it's possible some of that sound could crop up, too. He also describes it as hopeful and peppy and says it's about picking oneself up after one falls and still going on.
To watch: his Prince-like featured vocalist role on Staygold's great "Backseat" is buzzier right now, but I need to take another opportunity to promote what should have been his international breakthrough, the more delicate, magical "It's Only You (Part II)"
Overall, there's potential here, but too much up in the air for me to feel totally assured of the quality we'll be exposed to. Also, though there are some known faces, we also don't really have a big, A-level act here that all the others need to be afraid of based on name alone, which could potentially allow some good songs by less prominent acts to break through.
Pessimistic fears proven unfounded: Ola's "Sky's The Limit" is NOT a misguided attempt at R&B-ifying his sound--it's as poppy as any of his previous singles. The new single from the Swedish singer has the summery guitar strums of "Feelgood," some horns, and that typical Ola summer single sound, even if it's by some new collaborators (though apparently Bassflow helped out). Up-tempo, poppy in an electronically created but not electro way, catchy, summery...sigh. We don't have a new Rihanna single to make it feel like summer, but at least Ola has kept his side of the bargain up.
The single cover is, um, unforgettable. I do like the color palette, at least.
I LOVE the final single version of Frankmusik's "Confusion Girl." It's the perfect balance between Vince's quirkier side and the more mainstream intermediate version of the song we heard, with an end result of a fully charming pop song that's the best version of this track we've heard. The single is out July 12 in the UK.
On the Frankmusik front, a new song, "Dancing In The Dark," is streaming on his MySpace, along with previews of the remix version of Vince's album.
The lead single from Ola's new album is called "Sky's The Limit" and will be premiered via a performance on June 22 and released that same day, I think. It's written by KeiOne, Json, and Ola, which does make me a bit nervous--that could mean it's a step closer towards R&B, while I tend to prefer Ola as a vehicle for the pure pop songs of Tony Nilsson and Bassflow. Still, ideally it could mean Ola releasing something that stirs up more excitement about him (though in terms of chart success pop seems a surer bet than pop-&B in Sweden); plus, he's definitely spent time with Tony and Peter "Bassflow" Boström, so maybe we could get a great mix. I do love Adam Tensta's "80s Baby," KeiOne-produced hip-hop meets pop with just the right combination of hardness and breeziness; I'm just worried about how Ola's voice will match with this sort of music as well as quality overall.
Speaking of Peter Boström, he's just done a remix--or, as it's more accurately being called, a remake--of Mando Diao's "Gloria." I'm not going to put it up there with his best work on, say, Martin Stenmarck's singles, but listen to it 20 minutes into the 10-10:30 block here.
Since the sporadic nature of my recent posts meant I never did a fully rundown on the American Idol finale, I'd like to add that I am happy for Kris, not angry with the result (and hoping I'll end up wanting to buy his album--no one's going to agree with me and it's probably best for his commercial viability that he doesn't, but I'd love him to be singing songs like Ryan Cabrera's best work), but I stand by my earlier comment that I'm "hoping Adam ends up being the best popstar America has" (maybe you could qualify that with "male popstar," given the real lack of competition on that front--I'm not talking just about music, though obviously that's important, but all-out exciting popstarness--but even that caveat is probably unneccesary) "Kiss & Tell," which #1 Hits From Another Planet posted a few months ago, still gets frequent plays from me--I want Adam to make the glam rock which suits him so perfectly and which the U.S. could really use a dose of, but I also want him continuing down an electro-pop route like that of this old demo song, too.
...and, coming on the heels of the South African pop update, here's an update on Swedish singer Ola.
He's been working on his third album for a few months now. I wouldn't say release is imminent--he's still in the process of recording--but he's talking about artwork with his "people," so it's not a matter of being intangibly distant.
Keep in mind that, with no formalized tracklist, what songs will make it onto the album isn't yet determined. We do know, though, that he's worked with:
Tony Nilsson--if Ola wasn't working with him again, he'd be absolutely insane. If it was up to me, he'd probably do the whole album with Tony. Heck, if it was up to me, everyone would have Tony write for their album.
KeiOne--I think he did Adam Tensta's "80s Baby," which I love, but I'm not familiar with him at all; it looks like he's worked more with R&B in the past.
Ishi--mentioned here recently because of his involvement in Måns Zelmerlöw's new album (he co-wrote "One Minute More," "Find Love, "Saved Again," and "Home"), but more famous for his work with Lazee.
Patric Sarin--I've got a big post dedicated to Patric that's been sitting as a draft for quite some time that I may have to dig out, but rest assured he's done more than his fair share of amazing brilliant songs over the years (Darin's "Desire" and "Insanity" and Margaret Berger's "Samantha," "Will You Remember Me Tomorrow," "Robot Song" are just the tip of the iceberg).
Dilba--Dilba and Ishi worked together for at least one song.
maybe Michael Garvin, who wrote the lyrics for Ola's "S.O.S." and who I wasn't familiar with but apparently also co-wrote "Waiting For Tonight" and Natalia's "I've Only Begun To Fight"
He's also mentioned that, given his record label's (very, very positive) response when he played it to them, there's a good likelihood the lead single will be a song written by Tony Nilsson, KeiOne, and Ola himself. There's a song written by Ishi that Ola thinks is a strong contender to be a later single.
Additionally, he's recorded a song he really likes which he said was called "Lead me the way" (sic).
The Ishi and KeiOne connections (and Patric Sarin, to a lesser degree) make me think maybe Ola's going for a slightly edgier sound, with just a little more of that urban electro sound in it, but I think his record label and management has a good sense of where he gets his popularity from and will keep him very much pop. Plus, Tony Nilsson's involved, and I still have absolute faith in him. I just hope his songs make up more of the album this time around. Ola has established himself as a "summer single" sort of artist and he's got a fall tour coming up, so maybe we could hear a single as early as late this spring.
Apparently in his free time he's been seeing He's Just Not That Into You with Sarah Dawn Finer and talking about the financial crisis with Dr. Alban. The tangled webs of celebrity lives...
Give me love in stereo Give me more of the attraction 'Cause I'm dying for some more Woah-ohohohhh
Give me love in stereo Give me total satisfaction 'Cause I gotta have it all Woah-ohohohhh
You got the best of me You'll get the rest of what is left
Tony Nilsson and Bassflow (what, you didn't think "Feelgood" would be the only time they'd be appearing on this list, did you? Nor will "Love In Stereo" be the last...) do John Farnham's "Your The Voice" for Melodifestivalen. Bagpipes, a great catchy Swedish pop melody, one of my favorite songwriting and production teams working with one of the artists they do their best work for--all that would be enough to get me to love the song. However, should you need further proof that "Love In Stereo" was robbed of its place at Globen and is worthy of Melodifestival classic status, I offer up the following three points:
1.) You can do Charlotte Perrelli's three-part "Hero" point to the climatic part of the middle 8.
2.) You can have ridiculous debates about whether the song is one giant innuendo, a la "Det gör ont."
3.) It's amazing.
That's a pretty rock-solid argument if I've ever seen one.
Every little thing you do Is everything I want from you
It's obvious by now that I think Ola + Tony Nilsson + Bassflow makes for a killer combination. I've read Swedish media criticism of Ola in the past, arguing that he doesn't bring anything to the table, but I disagree: who else was going to release songs like "S.O.S.," "Love In Stereo," and this? "Feelgood," though very much in the boy pop niche Ola has carved out for himself, breathes a bit of fresh life into his style by taking it to the beach on a summer day. Musically, that means a quick-paced strummy guitar is brought into the mix of adorable electronic sounds, which here often take on the sound of rushing waves. The moment in the middle 8 where the song "goes underwater," a bit a la Kylie's "Love At First Sight" or "Wow," before coming back up with a crescendo results in a moment where Ola sounds exactly like I feel when listening to "Feelgood": he laughs. If you miss the halcyon days of Swede-produced teen pop, your search for your fix (though not mimicry) need go no further than Ola, who, thanks to the people behind him, is releasing music that does exactly what this song states: making us feel good. If he's not planning on getting Tony and Bassflow to do the vast majority if not all of his next album, he's crazy.
A quick break from Eurovision coverage to mention some Swedish news:
I got my Rix FM CD and was thrilled to see that Tony Nilsson was one of the co-writers for Ola's new single "Feelgood" (the other is J. Myrin, presumably Jonas Myrin edit: iTunes reveals that, yup, it's him). Love him--I'm so glad Ola's continuing to work with him/serve as a vehicle for his songs. Speaking of songwriters, I didn't realize Sophia Somajo co-wrote Vincent's "Miss Blue" until now.
Magnus Carlsson is apparently releasing a new single--but don't get too excited; it's taken from his album from last year. The choice? "Crazy Summer Nights," the song I would have gone with as the second single, a summer single for 2007...better late than never, I suppose. It comes with a bunch of remixes (which I haven't heard) and "What About Love," a song I posted last year from the deluxe version of the album--it (and "Crazy Summer Nights") is still brilliant, though I can't be too excited considering 1.) it's already been released, and 2.) I'm not expecting "Crazy Summer Nights" to do hugely well, though I hope I'm wrong--I'm just guessing, considering the amount of time that has passed since the album and that I haven't really sensed momentum behind Magnus's recent releases (which would be the difference between Måns's successful "Miss America" from an album released about the same time and "Crazy Summer Nights").
The tracklisting on the back of Kleerup's album is hurting my eyes. You know the font and the color of the title on the front? The same ones are used for the tracklisting, only they're on top of a white background and not only is each song title not given its own line, words themselves are broken up from line to line. It's enough to give me a headache.
I'm not sure if anyone else is going to be interested in this, but this website has clips of all the songs on this year's Rix FM Festival album, which means if you wanted to hear bits of the new Rongedal (album out this Wednesday), Sonja Álden, Patrik Isaksson, Arash, Anders Johansson, etc. singles, you can do so there (click on the little boombox to on the righthand side of the song's row). Slightly sadly, I actually ordered the album (what? It had "Feelgood" on it!)--hopefully it'll get here soon-ish.
I've been doing some cleaning today, and usually that would mean a bunch of long songs (generally remixes) but instead, I've been playing some brand new songs. Listening to the new E.M.D. album helped pass the time, and I'll give my thoughts on it in the future, but for today...well, was there ever really any doubt what I was going to post? At risk of seeming obsessed...
*cough*
...I've got to imagine there are some people out there who are as interested to hear that song as I am--well, almost as interested, anyway! It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since I was posting a radio rip of his version of "Natalie." In comparison to that song or any of his singles since, this song has, from what I can make out through the subpar audio quality (you'll have to turn the volume up, too), more strummy guitars, but it's still very much a poppy upbeat cute song with its essence in electronically-created pop and production effects, and not a guitar-pop song in any sense. The song's soaked in summer; it really couldn't sound more like the beach if it tried (which it probably is doing, to be fair).
Also, apparently I still fall for all the old tracks in the pop playbook, because all too often I get caught up in the song and actually respond to the singer's giddy laugh mid-track with equally happy laughter of my own.
The reedition of the album comes out May 28; new songs (as in songs not on the first editions) on it will include this song, "Love In Stereo," remixes of "Natalie" and "S.O.S." (these might be the remixes that were on the singles--I'm not sure), and live tracks...not quite the new song fest I was hoping for (unless there are more additions I don't know about yet), but knowing me I'll still buy it anyway; you can preorder it here. If you've not bought the album yet, even though I think it's spotty, this edition would definitely be worth considering getting for the older-ish songs on it: "S.O.S.," "Can't Get Enough," "Natalie," and "Love In Stereo" are all about as good as pop gets (and I do love "Baby I'm Yours" as well).
He does really need to get some new promotional pictures done, though.
I love summer compilation albums. Not necessarily because they're packed full of great songs--though some are--but because they can often point you in the direction of some great new songs you had no idea of. I'm looking forward to Spain's Disco Estrella again this year because of that, but since we don't know the tracklisting for that yet, I've been keeping my eye open for others.
As usual, Rix FM is putting out a CD in tandem with their summer festivals. Some titles that jumped out at me because I didn't know about them:
Rongedal, "Who Do You Think You're Foolin" Patrik Isaksson, "Elddon" Sonja Aldén, "Nån Som Du" Anders Johansson, "Ready To Fly"
You can read the whole two CD tracklisting here, if you're interested.
While we're talking about new songs (as well as songs that will be on the Rix FM Festival 2008 CD), Ola's new single is called "Feelgood!" and it'll be played on Rix FM tomorrow at 8 AM Swedish time.
Big thanks to Conor for letting me know about this song!
Round & Round (Single Edit)
I can be pretty odd with my reactions to songs sometimes: in one case I'll love the verse and bridge but be completely let down by the chorus and so completely write the song off, in another I'll just key in on and love one small element and that's enough to leave me feeling positive about the whole song. Take the new US5 single, for example--despite the fact that the German-based boy band is already three years and two albums into their career, I don't think I've heard more than a handful of songs by them, so even though I loved "Rhythm Of Life (Shake It Down)" from last year, I don't think you could really say I've got a preexisting inclination to be especially positive about their work.
That said, though there are elements of "Round & Round," their new single leading into their third album, that don't work for me--the dorky spoken section in the middle by (I presume) their British member, for example, always forces me to fight off laughter--I think I could forgive just about any boy band sins just because of how much I love the sound of the "that girl means trouble" and "she's not your lover" lines in the bridge. Really odd thing to care so much about, right? I mean, it's not a particularly distinctive or innovative (or memorable for most people, I imagine) melody there, nor are those lines really a huge part of the song, but I adore them.
Elsewhere, despite what the flashy video might make you think, the song's an unassuming synth-based mid-tempo boy band song--unassuming not in a bad way, but in that it's not really in your face and that it's making no claims that it's some revolutionary song to make boy bands cool again (though for the record and speaking beyond this song, just because a song isn't claiming to be revolutionary doesn't mean it isn't). That may still sound pejorative; all I'm trying to get at is that it's a song that seems comfortable with itself (save for the "must mimic Justin somewhere in here!" "yeah"s that open the song [thankfully the song goes its own way after that] and maybe that aforementioned part in the middle 8 which feels kind of try-hard to me, albeit in such a goofy way that maybe it's not meant to be taken seriously...which means I'm already coming around to appreciating it in that way), which is a thing I like. I don't think US5 as a group are at the point yet where "comfortable with themselves" and "not try-hard" can be applied to them (who designed this cover? seriously?!), but let's hope musically they continue to move in that direction; at the very least, it'd be nice if they'd continue making songs as great and enjoyable as this one.
To buy US5's single "Round & Round," go here (physical) or here (digital). Since it's a new single, it'll only be posted for a short time.
Also, two other comments about US5/this song:
1.) Just to really destroy any chance I might have had at being taken seriously in my enjoyment of the song, the one that based on their website I think is Chris is looking pretty good in that video in a dewy-eyed young Jesse McCartney kind of way, no?
2.) Given the whole Richie scandal (world: which one?), maybe a line like "she'll take a taste and then she'll throw you out her mouth" should have been reconsidered. Actually, if you're thinking about the lyrics at all, maybe it should have been reconsidered, but then, I like how the sounds of the words fit in the line, so I'm not really complaining.
In unrelated news, Ola's new single goes to Swedish radio next week! I really hope it's good... The re-release of the album comes out May 28.
Rebeca spends most of her time in the new low budget video for "Se Me Olvidó" camping it up in underwear and angel wings on top of a bed in front of religious symbols, making dramatic gestures while waving sheets around, and generally looking like she should be in a telenovela. It's all very "too much, LOL!" (in the cheap sense), but it's fun, as is the song once it ditches that opening ballad style of the first minute.
In other random artist news, Ola is apparently working on a single that will be released this summer (he's already recorded it but it's being worked on, or something; I'd really like to know who's behind it). Before that, though, Good Enough will be re-released sometime in the upcoming weeks.
Also, if you like the idea of a group whose songs are "like Van Halen's Jump pushed one hundred times bigger" (which would be a big big YES from me), run over to #1 Hits From Another Planet and read about the Galvatrons.
I knew his second album, Good Enough, was going to be re-released with his Melodifestival track "Love In Stereo" added on, but now I'm getting the impression we're getting more than that--is that right? Reworkings/remixings of (some of?) the original tracks as well as at least one entirely new song. I'm really not sure on that, though; I'd welcome clarification.
This is kind of old news at this point, but I was fascinated to read that (while most of the gossip about "Hero" centered around Charlotte and Måns) apparently "Hero" was actually written for Ola; he turned it down (he wanted a song that was in keeping with the "80's feel" of his album) and the writers then decided it suited a female voice better anyway, Fredrik Kempe suggested Charlotte Perrelli, and she fell for the song. That's not based on any talking with people who would actually know, though, just on this article (note: not my scan!), but since that information actually comes from Bobby Ljunggren, that must be what happened. Do you know...I LOVE "Hero," but I LOVE "Love In Stereo" as well--heaven help me if I do another end up year ranking because I really don't know how I'm going to rank my favorite Melodifestival tracks. At any rate, I don't think he would have won with "Hero" anyway, but I love getting these little flashes of insight into the behind the scenes side of Melodifestivalen.
Moving away from Ola, I have to thank Baszjuh for alerting me to the fact that Brolle's new album is (like Sanna's) out this coming week, a fact that I somehow managed to not pick up on despite Brolle's name being all over the Swedish papers recently and actually having seen the cover of the album. Which looks like this, since we're speaking of it:
I love it. In a way I have not loved an album cover in a long time. I'm still loving "Solo I Stockholm" too--especially that GIANT climatic note near the end, which I literally can't get enough of--and have been really enjoying his debut album since I picked it up, so I'll definitely be buying Ett Hjärta Som Glöder Som En Gång Brann when it comes out. The tracklisting:
1.) Solo I Stockholm 2.) Världens Hörn 3.) Faller Du (elsewhere listed as "Faller Du Faller Jag") 4.) Är Det Mig Du Gråter För 5.) Söt Sak 6.) Mexiko (a type-o, maybe?) 7.) Det Är Hon 8.) Vaken Igen 9.) En Sång För Dom 10.) Tillsammans 11.) Nu 12.) Sång För Dom (Bonus Track/Acoustic Version)
I know this isn't going to be an album for everyone, though; you can listen to preview clips of it here if you're wondering about it.
In other Brolle news, he was on Så ska det låta recently, teamed up with Linda Bengtzing...but in terms of him, I like his performance of "Suspicious Minds" on the same program but from 2006 more, so that's what I'm embedding.
Oh fine, here's a bit of Linda having fun singing "We're Not Gonna Take It"...
Random Melodifestivalen commentary from me primarily designed to make it seem like I have a reason beyond just listening to songs on repeat and hoping more will show up for still being here:
Schlagerprofilerna has the running order for the final (as well as 2007's and 2006's for comparison's sake)--and to be honest, it surprised me. Charlotte first? Not that that's a week starting spot, but I just somehow figured she'd be on last.
1.) Charlotte Perrelli 2.) Sibel 3.) Rongedal 4.) Linda Bengtzing 5.) Christer Sjögren 6.) Amy Diamond 7.) Sanna Nielsen 8.) Norman 9.) Frida 10.) BWO
In other news, Ola's single is now up for purchase (yes, I realize no one cares about this besides me), but Linda's still isn't (true for some others as well--I don't see BWO's or Caracola's yet either, among others) from iTunes (you can buy them all from other stores). Honestly, I know I shouldn't complain after getting so many songs I love to the final, but "Love In Stereo"--it, Ola, and its creators belong in the final, they really do. My over-the-top proclamations of love back from semifinal two still hold true--"Love In Stereo" is what I love about pop.
Having slightly calmed down after last night, I'm going to attempt to write something more than "AMAZING!!!!" over and over again (though really, that's what I still want to do).
10 things I loved about Linda's and Charlotte's performances last night (I had to choose some arbitrary number or else it would basically end up as a second-by-second list of what they did), in no particularly order:
1.) the aforementioned pause and look right before Linda's key change--that determined, hah-I'm-going-to-nail-this-and-prove-that-I-can moment
2.) Linda beaming and looking like she's going to bounce right out of her skin after the key change--she radiated confidence throughout the performance and now really has this incredible energy and presence on stage (I know it's a cliché, but she's grown so much as a performer), but she was obviously hugely relieved and happy she pulled it off
3.) Charlotte's opening pose and mic grab--iconic
4.) Linda's little head-cocked-back strut during the first chorus (right before the first "se mig" section)
5.) The leaning and swirling camera bit in Charlotte's performance
6.) The three-part group hand point right before Charlotte's key change (LOVE this way too much! Possibly my favorite moment of the night)
7.) Charlotte's soaring vocals overtop those of the backing vocalists singing the chorus during the key change (you know how I mentioned in one of my year end round up entries a song that had the one moment in music in 2007 that most stuck with me, that just thinking about could get me excited about the whole concept of music? I think I've found my moment for 2008)
8.) Linda's "hah"(s) (not new, but I've always loved them)
9.) Charlotte's reaching-towards-the-audience hand gestures in the second chorus, with the wind machine on
10.) Linda's styling and outfit
Also, I'd like to add that I think Linda's dancers worked fabulously and that someone needs to upload Linda's post-qualifying performance to DailyMotion--she was just so excited that it made the performance even more fun to watch. Oh, and the fact that I loved all the group strutting in Charlotte's performance is a given.
Moving onto the other contestants, I was genuinely surprised when Sibel's song ended--"that's it?" I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, but I hadn't really even realized we'd had a chorus, let alone a climax--I couldn't believe the song was over. I'm not sure whether that's a function of the song itself (which from the previews sounded great, but maybe it didn't have a chorus that stood out enough) or Sibel singing the whole thing so dramatically that it was kind of flat in a way--nothing "popped" like it should have. I'm not saying that she or the song was bad by any stretch, or that they didn't deserve to go to Andra Chansen (Sibel sang very well and I adored the "You and I belong together/We share a hidden past/And nothing more than your forever/And mine is what I ask" lines)--but I am saying she didn't deserve to go straight to the finals instead of either of the two songs that qualified.
I was kind of surprised to read the negative reactions to Daniel Mitsogiannis online after the fact. I definitely love the song, but I'd go further than that: for a young Melodifestivalen debutante to have to do that much complicated dancing (all these leg movements and hip wiggles and twists) and still manage to pull off singing an uptempo song impressed me. In the hands of many other young performers, that could have been a total unequivocal crash-and-burn scenario, but I didn't feel like it was at all for him (though I'm not saying it rivaled the night's top performances!). Apparently Sweden (and online fans) disagreed, though, and he ended up taking seventh, although that could partly be down to schlager and dance-pop fans who might otherwise have voted for him focusing their efforts on Charlotte and Linda.
I'm not complaining, though--getting Charlotte and Linda straight to the finals is a dream result that makes for a fantastic-looking final, only marred for me by Christer Sjögren. The second chance round, taking place this next weekend, has the potential to make it even better; two acts will be chosen to make it to the final.
Stealing Wikipedia's chart thing (though it looks small and blurry here--sorry about that! If you click on the picture you can see the full size version), I think the toughest matchup in this knockout format for me is Ola versus Caracola--I love both acts' songs. I think ultimately I'd like Ola to win this matchup; however, I'd prefer Ola or Caracola to either of the acts in the top bracket, where of the two Sibel is my preference. If Sibel ended up making it to the final, I wouldn't be too upset, but I'd definitely prefer it if Ola or Caracola did.
In terms of the bottom half of the lineup, my favorites are Carola/Andreas Johnson and Thérèse Andersson; put head-to-head, I'm not sure yet who I'd like to see win, though I might end up going for Carola and Andreas in the end. I haven't heard their song in a while, so it's hard to say. I'd be happy with either, though!
I realized I hadn't actually been doing too much recapping or discussing of the results of Melodifestivalen here, so--though there are a bunch of blogs already doing a great job of that and if you're interested I realize there's a good chance you've already looked up the performances--here are my highlights from the past two weeks. Some are highlights because of the songs (meaning you may need to look beyond the performance), some are highlights because of the performance, and some are highlights because of both.
Also, I should mention that I've decided I'm not going to watch YouTube videos of the performances, at least for a while; after last week's disconnect between how I experienced the performances live (as in real time, not as in actually there!) and what they seemed like on playback, I've decided to avoid that.
The first semifinal featured three songs that so far I can see myself listening to over the course of the year--well, maybe four, if Face-84's "Alla Gamla X" sticks with me. One of the three was dance-pop singer Velvet's "Deja Vu," which failed to make it to the second chance round or to the final. It keeps getting compared to Sonja Aldén's entry "Etymon" from a few years ago, but I prefer this, maybe because it's more danced-up.
Fifteen year old Amy Diamond, however, did make it through to the final with the young-sounding (but not in a bad or limiting way) pop song "Thank You."
Not too many other people--in Sweden or on the Internet--liked Michael Michailoff's "That's Love" like I did. The pop-rock song got compared to Andreas Johnson's entries from 2006 and 2007 as well as Karl Martindahl's "Love Turns Water Into Wine" from 2004, a comparison I can hear, but the payoff part of the chorus here works better for me--whereas after the similar introduction "Love Turns Water Into Wine" gives way to these smooth backing vocals singing "Love turns water into wine," "That's Love" gives you a more powerful, upbeat, singalong-oriented phrase, and that makes a huge difference for me. Ultimately, the chorus gets stuck in my head, and I don't mind it being there.
Onto the second semfinal's performances. Sanna Nielsen caused a real sensation in Sweden with her performance of the ballad "Empty Room," which had her in incredible vocal form (as usual). Sanna-mania is sweeping Sweden at the moment.
Someone not in incredible vocal form (watch out for that shout near the end, Alex!) was Alexander Schöld, but in studio I love his catchy pop-rock song "Den Första Svalan" (also, apparently I have the maturity level of a twelve year old boy, because I'm still not over that title yet). Plus, if his voice bothers you that much, it's an Epicentre song, so I imagine we'll be hearing another singer, probably someone off of an international Idol show, singing it within the next fifteen months. This is one of those songs that I don't expect most Melodifestival fans to love but that is exactly the sort of thing I enjoy.
Rongedal, like Sanna, qualified directly to the final, singing their fun Scissor Sisters/Bee Gees/Mika (take your pick)-esque entry "Just A Minute."
I was expecting to not like Andreas Johnson and Carola Häggkvist's entry "One Love" at all--I thought their earlier single together was just drippy--but not only did they put on a great performance (I even thought Carola was likable in it), I genuinely like their anthemic song. Doesn't mean I wasn't pleased to see them end up in the second chance round, though (now, if only it could have been Ola who got the other direct to final spot--I'm not at all confident in him making it through the second chance round).
...and speaking of Ola: all this is really just filling you in on songs I enjoyed, though, because my heart was totally sold in the three minutes it took for the first song to be performed. Ola may not be my type and his album may have been spotty, but boy, does he have dominion over my musical heart these days--well, him and the people making his best songs. "Love In Stereo" keeps getting compared to John Farnham's "You're The Voice" mixed with upbeat '80's pop, but it's very much in the vein of Ola's earlier hits "Natalie" and "S.O.S." as well. It's exactly what pop should be. Maybe it was the environment I was watching Melodifestivalen in, but I was so shocked to read almost all negative opinions of Ola's performance when perusing the Internet this morning--I thought it was really great. Plus, those chorus lyrics--"Give me love in stereo/Give me more of the attraction/'Cause I'm dying for some more" and "Give me love in stereo/Give me total satisfaction/'Cause I gotta have it all" are just demanding for me to find a use for them somewhere (Last.fm profile? Tagline here?). Please, Sweden, please vote him through to the final--I really fear for him, and we only know one of the groups he's up against so far (E-Type and the Poodles). He needs to be there!
I even liked Lasse Lindh's singer-songwritery "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd" as well--really, I just enjoyed this semifinal a lot. Great songs and great results--a top four I'm very happy with, even if I might have made one swap in the order.
1.) Ola, "Love In Stereo" Ola Svensson competed in the second season of Idol in Sweden, the season that also gave us Agnes Carlsson, Sebastian Karlsson, Måns Zelmerlöw, and someone else competing in Melodifestivalen this year, Sibel Redzep. Ola only took eighth in that season, but he's since managed to consolidate himself as a pretty successful popstar in Sweden. His first album, riding on a cover of Anthony Callea's song "Rain" and a song he co-wrote to his adopted brother (s? I can't remember), "Brothers," could have just been a case of immediate post-Idol success that soon fades away, but--once again releasing a cover (though once again one few people in Sweden knew) as a lead single--Ola took the uber-poppy "Natalie" to the top of the summer charts in 2007, and then followed that up with the fantastic "S.O.S.," which was also successful, if not quite as much. His entry in this year's Melodifestivalen, "Love In Stereo," is co-written by Tony Nilsson, who wrote or co-wrote both "Natalie" and "S.O.S.," which made me pretty excited to see this song in the contest. The early description of it--an uptempo '80's-influenced pop track--made me even more excited, though I took that '80's part with a grain of salt, since that's what Ola said his second album Good Enough was going to sound like, and I wouldn't say that's too evident at all. Still, if that's interpreted to mean something in the vein as and at the same level of quality as "S.O.S." and "Natalie," that would be very welcome--they're both great pure catchy uptempo pop. On the other hand, Ola's album definitely has its low points, and it has been said that "Love In Stereo" isn't as good as "S.O.S." and "Natalie." I'm now trying to steel myself for disappointment. Still, I'd be lying if I didn't say that "Love In Stereo" is one of my most anticipated tracks (as you can probably tell based on how much I've written), and especially out of this semifinal. He's seen as having a very good chance to qualify to the final. (By the way, his second album, Good Enough, is going to be reissued with "Love In Stereo" added on.)
To watch: the very cheap video for the fantastic "S.O.S."
Alternatively, here he is performing "Natalie" at Rockbjörnen, which I think is his most recent big live performance and so the best indication we've got of what to expect from him vocally
2.) Lasse Lindh, "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd" (You Need Never More Be Afraid/You Need Never Be Afraid Again) Not the sort of artist you think of when you think of Melodifestivalen. I guess Lasse Lindh has kind of an indie-pop or alt-pop sound, at least compared to someone like Ola. He started out releasing material in Swedish, then switched to English for a bit, but has returned to Swedish. "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd" is a love song that's a little reminiscent of Snow Patrol, is mid-tempo, written to his girlfriend, and very much in Lasse's usual style. He thinks the lyrics, which are basically of the "if you're with me I'll protect you" sentiment, are very important to it. I think he has an album due out March-ish and that the song uses strings, piano, guitar, bass, and drums (which I realize doesn't tell you anything at all), nothing electronically created.
To watch: the video for "Svenska hjärtan," released in 2005
3.) The Nicole, "Razborka" Nicole Fuentes, or the Nicole, was born in Russia and grew up in Greece, the country where she also released a single called "Give Me Your Number." She's already got songs for an album and, if she does well in Melodifestivalen, we may "see more of her." The official description of "Razborka" says that it's commercial pop with ethnic influences about a guy who has to prove himself to Nicole by dancing "the razborka." Schlagerprofilerna says they've heard it could be a small hit in gay discos. It has some Russian influence and is uptempo.
To watch: the video for her very recently released single, the cabaret-pop "Shut Up"
4.) Alexander Schöld, "Den första svalan" (The First Swallow) When the list of songs and writers was released, I was kind of excited, in a small way, about this song; the music for it was done by the guys at Epicentre, who've given us some truly great pop songs over the years; LMNT's ridiculous "Juliet" (one of the best teen-pop singles from that period's heyday); Agnes/Ricki-Lee/Jody Williams's "Love Is All Around;" Agnes's "Emotional;" my favorite song from Nanne's last album, "Kom hit;" A*Teens' "Firefly," "Sugar Rush," "Back For More," and more; Jessica Folcker's "Crash Like A Wrecking Ball" and "Punk;" and more. Basically, I was hoping for just a great pop song. However, after hearing Alexander's voice...well, let's just say that, based on the little singing I've heard from this former Fame Factory contestant, I'm worried that his voice may not be a positive for me. Maybe I'm wrong and it'll fit really well with the song, but as it stands, I'm worried the...nasal sound of it won't be too appealing, so my expectations have drastically fallen. Anyway, Alexander has released commercial material before, but I'd never listened to it (well, I think I've got a few songs from him sitting around from Fame Factory discs) until his latest single, the (Tony Nilsson-written, I think--eep! Though the version playing on his MySpace is considerably different, since it's not acoustic and it's less ballady, and consequently it's a lot better) "Jag hatar dig." "Den första svalan" is apparently an uptempo guitar-driven pop-rock song that Schlagerprofilerna said might be compared to Per Gessle or a more mature Jimmy Janson but that isn't memorable.
To watch: the bizarre video for "Jag hatar dig"--but the non-acoustic version, as I said, makes much more sense than this (not that that many Melodifestivalen fans will like either). Actually, listening to that version, his voice works (or at least works better)--very odd choice to use the acoustic version for the video, then
5.) Rongedal, "Just A Minute" The two Rongedal brothers (presumably performing with a band, based on their promo pictures), active in the '90's, helped right 2006's "Mi amor" (that's the one by Gregor, not Velvet) and performed as backing singers for the Electric Banana Band that same year, as well as appeared on the game show Så ska det låta in 2007 (which I think brought them back to whatever prominence they have now). "Just A Minute" is officially described as being a party song with falsetto, and it's said to have a bit of a retro feeling; Rongedal themselves use the term "energidisco" to describe it, which is different than I would have guessed, given the sound of their spring 2007-released single "Hey Won't You" (clip playing on their MySpace), which is what I guess is called radio-friendly guitar pop. "Just A Minute" is about seizing that opportunity that can change your life.
To watch: well, unless you want to look for them in the Electric Banana Band performance, here they are covering Earth Wind & Fire's "September" on said TV show
6.) Sanna Nielsen, "Empty Room" Sanna ditches uptempo schlager for an Aleena Gibson-penned ballad--well, maybe no surprise, considering that, though she's always made it to the finals with each of her past four entries, she's never really come close to the top since 2001, when her ballad "Igår, Idag" took third, and, outside of Melodifestivalen, she's done a lot of ballads. Still kind of sad, though, even if Aleena, who performed and helped write 2007's "Anything But You" and 2003's "Better Believe It" and co-wrote Anna Sahlene's 2003 entry "We're Unbreakable," is involved in the creation of the song. Sanna's a consummate professional, releasing music since before she was even in her teens, so whether or not she can sing won't be an issue (though whether or not her voice or vibrato is to your taste is another matter--though apparently she doesn't use her vibrato on this song). "Empty Room" is apparently a powerful--and good--schlager ballad, though, and she's one of the more famous contenders out of this group. She'll be releasing an album in English this spring (which I'm very excited about).
To watch: her performance of the schlager stomper "Våger du, våger jag" in 2007
7.) Andra generationen, "Kebabpizza Slivovitza" A song rejected in the past this year makes it into Melodifestivalen. Andra generationen, a group with its roots in the Balkans, isn't particularly famous in Sweden, though apparently they did a soccer/football song in 2006. The official description of "Kebabpizza Slivovitza" says that it's a Balkan brass song as played at various life events (weddings, baptisms, etc.). Apparently there's a little bit of rapping in it and the lyrics are "kul."
To watch: their performance of "Spela för mig" on a TV show
8.) (Andreas) Johnson & (Carola) Häggkvist, "One Love" Oh boy. The three time Melodifestivalen winner and one time Eurovision winner Carola, a schlager singer who shot to fame with the song "Främling" when she was sixteen years old and whose religiously-guided beliefs have led to controversy in recent years, and Andreas Johnson, the progressively improving (Melodifestivalen rankings-wise; he was third in 2006, launching a commercial comeback, and second in 2007) singer best known internationally for his single "Glorious," team up for a song co-written by Peter Kvint, the man behind Andreas's 2006 and 2007 entries and Sebastian's 2007 entry. On the one hand, the duo is seen as an unstoppable force, at least in the sense of easily making it to the final and quite possibly winning the whole thing; on the other hand, there's some real frustration with them, especially with Carola for returning to the contest. Carola describes the song as "a powerful explosion of love and music," but that doesn't really tell us anything; she does also say it's uptempo (I'll believe it when I see it) and upbeat. By the way, Andreas has a new album coming out in September.
To watch: a performance of Carola and Andreas's recent single "Lucky Star"
Your problems don't exist when music feels like this.
Songs are posted only for promotional purposes (I love them and want others to know about them, too)--if you like them, please "go out and buy the record"! If you are an artist, represent one, or are a songwriter/producer and would like your songs removed, I'll gladly do so (just let me know).
Swedish singer Nanne's new album, En Rastlös Själ, comes out October 6. It's been preceded by the singles "Otacksamhet" and "I Natt Är Jag Din," with one more, the title track, to be released August 18. The cover of the album is at left and the single cover can be viewed here. Other upcoming Swedish albums you may be interested in: Darin's Lovekiller (August 18), Ola's new album (September 15--at least, that's what I read at one point, but Ola now says that it's only 28 days away), and Robyn's Body Talk Pt. II (September 6 internationally). You should be able to buy all those albums from Bengans, though Ola's album isn't listed yet and it probably makes more financial sense to buy Robyn's album from a music distributor in your home country.
