I've been meaning to pick up one of Swedish singer Brolle Jr's two albums (probably his first one first; I'm pretty positive I'll love it) for a while now and just have never got around to it. When I finally heard his new single, though, I loved it too much to pass up buying that. If you're interested in knowing a bit about his background, EuropeCrazy wrote about him over here and #1 Hits wrote about him a while back as well; suffice to say, he auditioned for Popstars but has a career very much outside of the reality TV-based sort now. Now billed--at least on this single--as just Brolle, he's back with a new single that only narrowly missed making it into Melodifestivalen (something I'm glad of, to be honest; I'm worried I might not have appreciated it properly in that context). In a change for him, it's in Swedish, as his new album, which I read was due out in March, but I don't know if that's really set yet. He'll also be participating (along with singers like Linda Bengtzing, Agnes, and Markoolio, among others) in the Swedish version of Clash of the Choirs. As a kind of side note, the for-the-fans video for this song on Brolle's MySpace uses the b-side "piano version" of the track; I think the main version is much better, and it's therefore the version I'm posting today. He's also got a video posted of himself making a video to the main version of the song (complete with running, gorgeous snow-covered Swedish scenery, and dramatic falling to the ground!), so I'm looking forward to seeing the final product.
Solo i Stockholm--this song, written by Brolle and Aleena Gibson among others, sounds very much like a Brolle track, from the little I know of his work. What, then, does a Brolle track sound like? Good question. Well, it definitely uses guitars and "real instruments," and Brolle's unique (and fantastic--I love the sound of it, though I imagine not everyone might) voice is a part of it. If his styling is any indication, he feels he takes influences from the '50's, and maybe from the '80's--the hairstyle he's sporting is always...interesting, often alternating between being Elvis-esque (a singer who he's often compared to vocally) and looking like it's from the '80's. His songs aren't the bubblegum pop, dance-pop, or schlager I often post from Sweden. As a result of their style, instrumentation, and Brolle's voice, his songs end up having a more mature feel to them. However you end up describing "Solo i Stockholm," though, it's a fantastic dramatic emotional pop song with a great climax, and I literally can't get enough of the way he sings the lines in the chorus.
To buy Brolle's single "Solo i Stockholm," go here (physical) or here (digital). This song will only be posted for a short time since it's a new single.
I'm sorry, but I just love the idea of a country where cell phone ads feature kids singing "Cara Mia" at a school talent contest.
While we're on the subject of Sweden, I only just noticed that Sanna Nielsen has a song from her upcoming album, "I Can Catch The Moon," streaming on her MySpace. It's a ballad, and I know she performed it on TV some weeks ago (edit: oh, it's viewable here; it's by Bobby Ljunggren and Aleena Gibson), but I hadn't heard it until yesterday, though I have no idea how long it's been on her MySpace. I do hope we get some songs more like "Surrender" on the album...
I know a lot was written about all female Canadian pop-rock (emphasis on the rock, I guess) group Lillix's single "Sweet Temptation (Hollow)" on the Internet back in 2006 when it came out, and in terms of the critical dialogue that took place at the time, I don't have anything to add. However, the song's been undergoing a personal revival from me lately, so I really have to share it so that even more people can have the fantastic experience of jumping around to it. The group, if I'm remembering correctly, said they were breaking up a while back, but now are still together, just with some members having left--which actually does mean that they're no longer an all girl group, come to think of it.
Sweet Temptation (Hollow)--"Sweet Temptation" was the lead and only single for Lillix's second album; it didn't exactly set the charts alight, to say the least. I'm not saying that it necessarily sounds like it's from these groups (beyond the basic female-fronted pop-rock similarity), but I imagine fans of the Faders' "No Sleep Tonight" and the singles from the Veronicas' first album would have a good chance of liking "Sweet Tempation" as well. I think I'd say "Sweet Temptation" is even better than the aforementioned song, too; though you can hear its rock ties, an almost electro beat sneakily underlies much of it, yet another factor making it even more of a giddy (albeit loud and guitar-filled) driving sugar rush. That chorus is pure anthem, too, a command to move that you absolutely don't mind obeying while you shout it along with them.
To buy Lillix's second album Inside The Hollow, go here (physical).
Next up: maybe that Swedish song I meant to post today.
I kind of have a fascination with demos. I definitely don't have as big a collection of them as many people, but I am always up for hearing the demo version of a song I know and like (though if the demo is revealed first, I may hold off on listening to that until after I've heard the final version)--I think it ties in with that whole music dorky side of me that's fascinated by all the behind-the-scenes things that go on in the creation of a track (my interest in recycled tracks links into that as well). The demo may be a considerable step back from the final version or it may be an improvement, but either way it's kind of interesting to hear either a track in development or what might have been. Given that we're in the middle of Melodifestivalen season, then, I thought I'd share something that manages to combine both interests.
A Miracle--this schlager track would enter the 2005 Melodifestivalen in Swedish, with the title "Att Älska Dig," where it was performed by Shirley Clamp, who ended up taking fourth in the final. Had she won, though, presumably this is the set of lyrics we would have heard her singing in Kiev. This version, though, is a demo sung by Shirley's friend Sonja Aldén, who was one of the song's co-writers. Sonja would eventually make it to Melodifestivalen as a solo star in her own right, first with "Etymon" in 2006 and then more successfully with "För att du finns" in 2007.
I don't believe Sonja Aldén's version of this song is purchasable anywhere, but you can buy Sonja's album Till dighere (physical), here (digital), or from any country's iTunes store. Shirley Clamp's album Lever mina drömmer, which contains the Swedish version of this track, can be purchased here (physical), here (digital), or from any country's iTunes store. Speaking of demos, Sonja's version of Carola's song "Invincible" is also out there on the Internet, if you're interested in it.
While we're on the topic of people who competed in Melodifestivalen 2007, I would like to express my longstanding frustration that there seems to be literally nowhere to buy Måns Zelmerlöw's song "I Can Be Your Friend" except for this mobile phone-linked Swedish digital music store. It was on Swedish iTunes for a bit, one of those "only available if you buy the whole album" songs, but for a while now it's not even been available there anymore. It sounds great (I love the sound of that bridge or verse or whatever it is...and the chorus, too), and there's literally nowhere we can buy it. Record companies! What are you doing? I want to give you my money--let me! Anyway, should you want to listen to a clip of it, you can click on the little speaker icon next to the track's name at this link. It better be on his next album or a b-side or something...
I'd held off on doing a post on this song for a while since both #1 Hits and EuropeCrazy had written about it. I was planning to make the Lethal Bizzle entry in my year end singles countdown a tie with this song (or rather, make this song like a subpoint of that one; the same was supposed to happen with "The Way I Are" and the Andy Caldwell mix of Brielle Davis's "Take It Off"), but then just didn't (mainly because it would have taken extra writing, I think). I really should have, though, because it may even be better than "Police On My Back."
Still, I really can't help mentioning it here, just in case there's a chance you haven't heard it yet--it seriously gets better every single day. Thus, I present Swedish hip-hop artist Adam Tensta and "My Cool."
It seriously is the ultimate song when you just want to psych yourself up, get yourself feeling like you're amazing. It's also a fantastic strutting song--yes, rap and strutting. Really.
If there was any justice, this song would go international. And easily.
Quick aside: Scott Mills played short--in some cases really really really really short--clips of the songs in the UK's national final for Eurovision on his show today. If you go to his official page, click on "Latest Show," and fastforward to around 3:23:00 ish (that's what the timer will read--it starts at 1:00:00 or something, so you're really only fastwording past two hours and twenty minutes or so), you can listen to the clips, with him and others talking over the top of them.
ESC Today has more coverage on the finalists, and Don't Stop the Pop is the place to go for LoveShy news.
I've used Jamie Meyer as a reference point a lot on here, but was thinking today that I've only ever posted one song from him, and that must have been more than a year ago at this point. With that in mind, then, here's another song from the Swedish singer's enjoyable 2003 pop-rock album It's All About Me. Jamie won was in the series of Popstars that future BWO singer Martin Rolinski was also in. His first two singles were great fun upbeat pop-rock. Some day I really will bother to figure out how to transfer videos from CD to YouTube because his video for "Good Girl" (his second single; it didn't perform as well as debut single "Psycho," which may be the usual for a second single in Sweden, but I prefer it, though "Psycho" is good too) needs to be on there--revolutionary? No, but it's endearing and a total flashback to the time period the single was released, even if it wasn't a video I ever actually saw at that time. Anyhow, the song I'm posting today isn't quite as uptempo or as upbeat or pure fun-oriented as his first two singles, but it's still one of the album's better tracks.
Random fact: if I'm remembering correctly, every song on It's All About Me was co-written by Jörgen Elofsson.
Writing this post prompted me to go check up on him, and, after moving to the U.S. and releasing a new EP a while back, it looks like he's got an actual new album, called Great Big Chance, coming out this March in Sweden; it sounds like it'll continue his more "grown up" sound.
One Way Street--like most of Jamie's songs, "One Way Street" is catchy, fantastic for singing along with, and uses exactly the right amount of guitars--the vocals are never overpowered but the guitars are present enough to give the song that needed punch, especially for moving into the chorus (typical double guitar chug there!). I'm not really sure whether you'd say the song, a plea for some help in making a relationship work (i.e., make it not just a "one way street") is midtempo or uptempo--midtempo, I guess, but the way the chorus rises gives it a "bigger" feel, and the song never feels like it's dragging, or even really that sad. Really, "One Way Street" may not be the almost undiluted fun of "Good Girl" and the less-than-happy emotions of the song are recognizable and add to the song's strength, but it is fun, in its own way--it's just slightly less peppy. It's also the sort of song that would fit in equally comfortably on a teen pop playlist or (if given a fair chance) a slightly more credible radio-friendly rock playlist. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go wander around with "This love is, is a one way street/Oh yeah/This love is, is a broken promise" and "ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo" stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
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.
Third round of Melodifestivalen this coming weekend! Once again, I'm no expert, so feel free to add things or correct me, and I've not heard any of these songs or even talked to anyone who has--it's really just my attempt at a round-up of information that we all have access to online, as well as some background information for people new to the contest.
1.) BWO, "Lay Your Love On Me" Probably the big guns out of this heat, BWO are a three person group masterminded by Alexander Bard, who's also been involved with groups like Army of Lovers and Alcazar. The other two members are Marina Schiptjenko and lead singer Martin Rolinski, who appeared on a series of Popstars in Sweden. If you've never heard their music, hurry out and buy their debut album Prototype right now--it's packed full of fantastic pop (one of the best pop albums of the '00's, I'd say) and was an incredibly exciting arrival upon the music scene when it came out. Their first Melodifestival entry, 2005's "Gone," is easily one of their weakest tracks, but they more than made up for that in Melodifestivalen 2006 with the pop stomper "Temple Of Love," which was only prevented from winning the contest by the comeback (after fifteen years away from Melodifestivalen) of Carola. If "Lay Your Love On Me" is as good as "Temple Of Love," we should all be getting very excited. The song's writers say it's a dramatic electronic disco track. BWO also say the uptempo track isn't "Temple Of Love" mark 2 and is more melodic than that song; also, they'll be wearing "avantgarde" outfits. Reviews so far of it have been very positive, but (from what I've read) not very specific...hopefully we'll get more news as Saturday approaches. Henrik Wikström, one of the writers, does compare the track to Madonna's "Sorry," though (as did Alexander, along with "Hung Up"), and an Aftonbladet reviewer says that "Lay Your Love On Me" is dramatic electronic pop that perfectly suits Martin's voice, has a fantastic chorus, and is even better than "Temple Of Love." After releasing three albums (excluding their remix album), they'll be releasing a greatest hits, titled Pandemonium, this April; in addition to "Lay Your Love On Me," it'll have two other new songs.
To watch: their performance of "Temple Of Love" at the final of Melodifestivalen 2006--WANT! LOVE! Ohh-ohH-OHh-OHH!
2.) Mickey Huskic, "Izdajice" Mickey's kind of an unknown factor here, since I don't think he's released any music commercially before (by himself--he is part of a band)...though apparently he's tried to enter Melodifestivalen a bunch of times before. The song's official description says that it's a ballad with Balkan influences, with "Izdajice" meaning "betrayal." It nearly qualified for last year's Melodifestival. There's got to be a cello in it somewhere, since a beauty pageant winner will be playing it for the song. Apparently it could be compared to Bosnia Herzegovina's 2006 entry. Also, the song is all in Bosnian, I think. Mickey's recently signed a deal with Universal and is working on an album.
To watch listen: a montage set to a song of his, "Kazna za sve;" alternatively, you can watch a live performance of the song here
3.) Frida feat. Headline, "Upp o. Hoppa"(Get Up And Jump) Frida (Muranius, not part of ABBA) had a hit this past spring/summer with "Dunka mig gul och blå," a light singer-songwritery kind of song that played with rhythms a little bit in a way that I guess could be construed as hip-hop influenced...and probably should be interpreted to be, given that Headline is said to rap on "Upp o. Hoppa." In fact, the beginning of the official description for "Upp o Hoppa" could almost apply to Frida's earlier hit: singer-songwriter hiphop with African guitars (here about living life while you can). Then again, "Upp o. Hoppa" is said to be an uptempo track. Schlagerprofilerna says they've heard it's pop-rap that you want to dance to and sing with. As a kind of irrelevant aside, the song was originally announced as being called "Leva livet," but then retitled.
To watch: the video for "Dunka mig gul och blå"
4.) Thérèse Andersson, "When You Need Me" Thérèse (those accent marks are going to get annoying quickly) is best known to Swedish pop fans as one-third of (I can't even begin to think of what adjective to use to describe Pay TV's we're-too-cool-for-you electro-pop stylings--"snarky" isn't aloof enough) Pay TV. What does her solo participation in Melodifestivalen mean for that group? I have no idea--maybe Robpop does? Her song "When You Need Me" is officially described as a combination of pop, musical, and Celtic influences with a message about daring to love again. Thérèse says when people hear the first verse they'll think "oh, another rock chick," but then when the chorus hits they'll wonder if it's the same song. It's co-written by Evan of "Under Your Spell" from Melodifestivalen 2006, and he describes the song as a mix of Sarah Brightman and Nightwish, adding that it's uptempo, has some guitars, and switches back and forth between genres, with the chorus being pure opera. Gylleneskor compares it to Slovenia's 2007 entry in Eurovision.
To watch: Pay TV's performance of "Refrain Refrain" at Melodifestivalen 2005
5.) Patrik Isaksson & Bandet, "Under Mitt Tunna Skinn"(Under My Thin Skin) Singer-songwriter Patrik Isaksson had success around the turn of the century in Sweden, but 2006 marked a relaunch or comeback of sorts for him. His song "Faller Du Så Faller Jag," a piano-based ballad, may have qualified to the second chance round and just barely failed to qualify to the final from there (it took third), but it went on to be a hit for him; additionally, it was very well received critically. How do you follow up an entry that some critics viewed as one of the best ballads in Melodifestivalen in recent years (or period)? Not with a ballad, apparently, but more with a typical song for him, one with a powerful/pounding chorus--but also with a song that's said to not be quite as good as his previous entry.
To watch: well, I'm obligated to post his performance of "Faller Du Så Faller Jag" from Melodifestivalen 2006 (which bafflingly didn't show up on YouTube when I used YouTube's search function and typed in his name), but I do want to mention that I fell in love with his very very MOR ballad with Sarah Dawn Finer, "Du Som Tog Mitt Hjärta," last year. I really like his earlier hit "Hos dig är jag underbar" as well, and that's faster and with more of a punchy chorus, as is another earlier hit, "Ruta 1"
6.) Caracola, "Smiling In Love" I have high hopes for a good song from this girl group! Caracola (if P4 can be believed, they're named after the Spanish word for "conch"--like the shell) have released two albums of dance-influenced pop, one in Swedish and one in English (well, I swear I remember seeing that they released an English album--called Love Alive or something, I think--and even almost buying it, but now some traces of that seem to have been erased from the Internet; it included many English versions of their earlier Swedish songs), but have yet to really break out in Sweden. "Smiling In Love" is another case of very good things being said but me not knowing many specifics; it's said to be a good modern happy pop song, and the girls themselves say it's catchy Caracola-type schlager. With luck, they'll be the year's Cosmo4--though hopefully they'll get a higher ranking! They're planning to release an album, This Is Caracola, this spring.
To watch: well...there's a non-professional video of them performing "Mango Nights" embedded below
7.) Ainbusk, "Jag saknar dig ibland"(I Miss You Sometimes) This is a group I know nothing about--I guess they had some hits (big hits) back in the '90s. Josefine Nilsson, one of the members, competed in Melodifestivalen 2005 with "Med hjärtats egna ord." "Jag saknar dig ibland" is apparently a good ballad about regret and has a similar feel to Sonja Aldén's "För att du finns" from last year (with which it shares a creator). It starts with piano and then builds and has a big chorus. Schlagerprofilerna says that it's been said that it could have been a good comeback song for Shirley Clamp if she'd wanted to return to Melodifestivalen.
To watch listen: a montage set to their '90's hit "Lassie" (co-written by Benny Andersson)--there's a long talking bit at the beginning
8.) Eskobar, "Hallelujah New World" Not your typical Melodifestival group, Eskobar are an indie-pop or alt-pop group that has been releasing music since the late '90s. They're also this week's joker/wildcard. Schlagerprofilerna reports that it's rumored (though how strongly, I have no idea) that "Hallelujah New World" is Eskobar's best song ever. Their song is also said to be uptempo with a clap-friendly section in the middle, and the band says the song is big/grand. They've got an album called Death In Athens coming out this March.
To watch: their 2002 hit single with Heather Nova, "Someone New"
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).
I've been meaning to pick up one of Swedish singer Brolle Jr's two albums (probably his first one first; I'm pretty positive I'll love it) for a while now and just have never got around to it. When I finally heard his new single, though, I loved it too much to pass up buying that. If you're interested in knowing a bit about his background, EuropeCrazy wrote about him over here and #1 Hits wrote about him a while back as well; suffice to say, he auditioned for Popstars but has a career very much outside of the reality TV-based sort now. Now billed--at least on this single--as just Brolle, he's back with a new single that only narrowly missed making it into Melodifestivalen (something I'm glad of, to be honest; I'm worried I might not have appreciated it properly in that context). In a change for him, it's in Swedish, as his new album, which I read was due out in March, but I don't know if that's really set yet. He'll also be participating (along with singers like Linda Bengtzing, Agnes, and Markoolio, among others) in the Swedish version of Clash of the Choirs. As a kind of side note, the for-the-fans video for this song on Brolle's MySpace uses the b-side "piano version" of the track; I think the main version is much better, and it's therefore the version I'm posting today. He's also got a video posted of himself making a video to the main version of the song (complete with running, gorgeous snow-covered Swedish scenery, and dramatic falling to the ground!), so I'm looking forward to seeing the final product.
