The likes of Robyn, Annie and Lykke Li have been at the cutting edge for years, but coming up behind is another generation of super-cool Scandinavian female musicians. There may be something in the water ...
Why is Scandinavia pop’s greatest construction line? Some say it’s because of a school system that actively encourages learning the craft of musicianship from a young age; others reckon that because winters are so long and dark, everyone spends ages indoors writing melancholy pop songs (even though, in Britain, that would just lead to endless Come Dine With Me marathons and games of Bananagrams). Some people say it’s the influence of Abba filtering down, perhaps via the drinking water. But that doesn’t explain the specific success of the female Scandinavian pop star, whose happy-sad, singalong pop bangers have been putting their male counterparts’ efforts to shame for decades. Sure there are some men – Erik Hassle, Eric Saade, Mavrick, the guy from A-ha – but look at the list of women making properly incredible and inventive pop music in recent years: Robyn, Lykke Li, Annie, Fever Ray, iamamiwhoami, Zhala, Tove Styrke, Tove Lo, Icona Pop, Mapei, Seinabo Sey, Elliphant, MØ – and that barely scratches the surface.
That is all very well, but what of the future? Is pop music likely to be dominated by effortlessly interesting and inexplicably cool Scandinavian women for the foreseeable future? Yes. Yes it is. And these are the best of the new crop.
Continue reading...by Michael Cragg via Electronic music | The Guardian
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