När kalla nätter sänker sig och fängslar mig, då väntar jag

I really will try to do some stuff that's less "Swedish songs everyone already knows, loves, and has" soon, but after mentioning Jessica Andersson yesterday, I have to post this. Jessica first became famous on the TV show Fame Factory (speaking of Fame Factory, I've been thinking about doing a Fame Factory special, but 1.) it's more Swedish stuff and I don't want to completely overload people, and 2.) I'm incredibly far from an expert--it would just be what I know and love...oh, and 3.) I can never seem to make it all the way through a special without getting distracted, though I think I've eventually finished all of them); though she dropped out partway through the season to have a baby, she would be teamed up with eventual winner Magnus Bäcklund to form Fame, the duo that won Melodifestivalen in 2003, released an album which has some good songs but doesn't contain most of their best ones, reentered Melodifestivalen 2004 and made it to the finals, and went their separate ways for solo careers with the possibility of reforming at some point left on the table. Both Magnus and Jessica entered Melodifestivalen in 2006; Magnus made it to the finals via the Andra Chansen round with the nice but not amazing "The Name Of Love" (I guess it's pop-rock), but poor Jessica ([in]famously clad in hotpants) didn't make it out of her semifinal, despite having one of the year's best songs.

Kalla Nätter--I don't really think of this as true schlager, though maybe it is--it's more along the lines of really poppy electro-pop than something like, say, Linda Bengtzing's "Jag ljuger så bra" from the same year is. If I had to describe it in just one word, though, I'd go with this: fantastic. Seriously, dramatic in the right poppy way, catchy, a chorus you can sing along with even if you speak no Swedish--it's a song that does everything right (and yes, we even get a key change in it). Maybe imagine if Rachel Stevens was Swedish?

To buy the Melodifestivalen 2006 album, which includes Jessica Andersson's song "Kalla Nätter," go here (physical). I really hope we get an album from her some day.

Next up: maybe a Danish singer.