Like a returning frisbee, Halley’s Comet in 45 years, or your persistent disappointment in the quality of these intro paragraphs, NBHAP’s Amazing Sweden is back. In association with Nordic By Nature and STIM, we’ve selected three of the best songs we’ve heard from Sweden in the past month, and all you the lucky reader needs to do is scroll down and enjoy them.
Photo: Klara Ferm
BOYS‘ new single perfectly nails that curious trick of sounding summery and happy while being utterly miserable in subject matter, the musical embodiment of a tear rolling down an ice-cream cone. It opens up with a perky drum roll and waves of sparky guitars that pinball it along, before it dips into a gloomy bridge and then swirls back into the irresistibly melodic chorus (albeit a melodic chorus with with lyrics: ‘I woke up, though I didn’t think I would’). It’s a reminder that the best indie songs always combine brightness with a narcotic dose of melancholy. Because let’s face it, people who are 100% happy are tedious weirdos anyway. BOYS‘ new EP Love On Tour is out on May 20th PNKSLM.
Swedish trio CHANCVN (pronounced chan-coon) have just released their debut single Heart Out, and it’s a song loaded with the kind of widescreen, sweeping grace that pop at its peak can achieve. Musically, it’s crafted from thumping drum momentum and nervy guitar riffs, which inject the song with tension and intensity that builds and builds until it’s all released in the cathartic rush of the final chorus. Pair that with the delicate emotion in the vocals and some exposed-nerve lyricism (‘nothing but my pure confession, could reach you’) and you’ve got a perfect piece of classic indie-pop. It’s out now on VÅRØ Records.
Joakim Buddee, half of electro-pop duo HEART/ DANCER, also has a solo project called FOREVERANDEVER<3, and he released Heliotrope as part of a double A-side single a few weeks ago. The song, which features guest vocals from Gothenburg singer HELH, is pure shimmering space-pop. Floating, airy synths gently build up and bring the track to life, while HELH‘s subtle repetitive vocal gradually draws the listener in. Heliotrope is a headspace track, one that completely captures your attention and leaves you submerged deep in its dream world. Heliotrope is out now on Sommarhjärta.
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