Scan Magazine
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Columns
Scandinavian music Norwegian talents Röyksopp and Susanne Sundfør have gotten together again after a host of brilliant pairings through the years. They’re now back with If You Want Me, a beautiful piece of extended downbeat electronica. They’ve resisted an attempt to match the pounding euphoria of their past collaborations, and have instead put everything into something fresh. The result is a stunning epic that plays out as a haunting Norwegian folk ballad, transported to the modern day in a cloud of mystique. Sweden’s Måns Zelmerlöw is back with a brand-new single, What You Were Made For. On it, Måns has gone all ’80s on us. And not the cool synth-y stuff, either. This is full-on, jubilant pop cheese, the sort which would have soundtracked the top summer Box Office of 1988, and which you would have rented down your local Blockbuster six months later. And it totally suits him, too!
The Icelandic artist Sylvia Erla has got a new single out called Down Together. It’s an atmospheric piece of electronic chill that invites you to lie back and get lost in it for three minutes. And honestly, who are we to refuse? Listening to this is tonic, a pleasure, and an experience you’ll want to keep coming back to. New music has arrived from the Swedish songwriter to the stars – turned star in the making himself – Joel: his second single, Good Parts. It’s a lyrically brilliant composition about relishing in the fact that yes, you’ve been dumped – but look at all the lessons you can take from that relationship to put into your next one. He’s revelling in his new-found knowledge, and the track has been afforded an equally jubilant production to complement such a sentiment. Finally, let’s end on a sugary high! Norwegian artist Raylee has got a new single out called Mojito. It’s refreshing; intoxi-
By Karl Batterbee
cating even. A tropically-themed pop tune that veers from tempo to tempo, going from bang to bliss and back again. It’s a rum-fuelled ride, alright. Web: www.scandipop.co.uk
The ‘real’ pick ‘n’ mix They will never understand real pick ‘n’ mix here, not really. Do you remember that sweet (pardon the pun) feeling of walking into a shop completely dedicated to pick ‘n’ mix? I’m not talking old-fashioned sweet shops, with walls lined with out of date dolly mixture and gummy bears behind a counter – I’m talking real sweets. Picture a whole wall of liquorice – salty, sweet, double, triple; another wall of hard, heavy sweets; a third for fruity gummy flavours; and maybe a fourth for wrapped sweets and chocolate. A bag of carefully-selected sweets say a lot about who you are – or who you’d like to be perceived as. People will peer into your bag of pick ‘n’ mix and judge you. One of my sisters always picks old granny sweets – arrak-flavoured with muted colours. The other sister will pick the sour ones. And I do judge them, think less of them, pity them. 92 |
Issue 143
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June 2022
By Gabi Froden
salty liquorice, but on rare outings to the cinema, or on days when I’ve cleaned the flat and think I deserve of a treat, I long for the pick ‘n’ mix stores of Sweden. I long for the walls of confectionary, for the moment before you put your little shovel into a box of salty sweets and for the satisfying weight of a perfectly-balanced bag of pick ‘n’ mix. Mum, send some, will you?
The British have a real understanding of other unhealthy treats. They deep fry stuff in a way Swedes will never be able to do. My teeth are grateful for the Brits’ ignorance of pick ‘n’ mix and I don’t have as many heart palpitations since I stopped eating all that
Gabi Froden is a Swedish illustrator and writer, living in Glasgow with her husband and two children. Her children’s and YA books are published in Sweden by Bonnier Carlsen and Natur&Kultur. www.gabifroden.com
