Scan Magazine
|
Culture
|
Columns
Best new Scandi music in February By Karl Batterbee
Swedish up-and-comer Paula Jivén is back with her first single since last summer’s excellent debut EP The Duality In Me. New release Can We Talk About Me? provides Paula with the ideal platform for channeling one of her most admirable traits as an artist: her engaging storytelling. Accompanying her lyrics are an endearingly eccentric pop production and a skittish melody that ascends and descends according to the beat, challenging us to come along for the ride, if we can take it. Icelandic artist Daniel Oliver is out with a brand-new tune – Ready For Love. A rare feat in today’s Spotify playlist popscape, this track actually clocks in at just over four minutes. And in that time, Daniel has been able to compose a song that, almost exactly halfway through, switches from mega-ballad to arena-pop banger. Both
genres showcase a change in direction for Daniel in this synthpop era of his, but they are blended together brilliantly. As her previous single Summer Really Hurt Us takes off in the UK, Finland’s ALMA is now out with the follow-up Hey Mom Hey Dad. It’s a switch-up in sound for our Finnish pop icon as she takes a brief break from futuristic electronica sounds to slow it down to a retro-chic pace. Melodically, this sounds like it could be a rewrite of an old classic. But it’s actually the artist composing a new classic - which she seems to be doing a lot of, recently. Sweden’s Seinabo Sey has just gone and delivered an unmissable listening experience. Her latest single Suzuki exudes an irresistible warmth that invites you in on the positive-vibes fest that it’s doing such
a good job of hosting. Self-affirmation features highly in the theme of the lyrics, and the feel-good message is infectious. And really, who would turn that down right now? www.scandipop.co.uk
Monthly Illustration
By Gabi Froden
Looking back through snow-tinted spectacles I sometimes tell myself that every Swedish winter was white when I was a kid. I remember the wonderful quiet of heavy snowfall and magical days spent building snow forts. I loved those crisp, clear winter days when I would put on my skis and go round the neighbourhood again and again, pretending I was either Ronia, the wild and brave Astrid Lindgren character, or Gunde Svan, the 1980s skimaster.
in Scandinavia. Maybe my children, growing up Scottish, will be formed by things other than white winters. Maybe they will be influenced by the lovely, funny community they grow up in, and remember the lochs we visit. Maybe Glasgow’s music scene will be their snowy winter days. Sure, they might struggle to become skiing champions, but they can still be wild and brave like Ronia. As long as I get them off the bloody screens.
I look at the catastrophe of grey rain and mud outside my window, and then over to the sofa where my children are on screens, and I say what all parents say: “When I was a child, we played outside aaaaall the time”.
Sweden, because surely all of Sweden is a dreamy winter wonderland of joy from November til March.
Then the guilt sets in. Maybe my children are hard done by for living somewhere without snow. I spiral into thoughts that I’m not giving them the magical childhood they deserve – one that I could only give them in
But is it? Was every winter snowy when I was young, or do I just remember the ones that were? Scotland’s climate is certainly warmer than Sweden’s, but the people here also have a warmth that’s not easily found
102
|
Issue 151
|
February 2023
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