Scan Magazine | Culture | Columns
Scandinavian music By Karl Batterbee
Swedish artist Elin Bergman has been releasing tune after tune steadily for well over a year now. But her latest single sounds like her official arrival as a popstar to watch. The engrossing Naked is a hugely upbeat and instantly infectious pop track with soulful undertones. And funnily enough, Naked was written and produced along with NEIKED, whom you will all know from their own redhot gem Sexual, which spent much of this autumn in the top ten of the UK charts. We got given a marvellous new addition to the Scandipop scene recently: brother and sister duo Sixten and Tova Strandell from Bromma in Sweden. They are calling themselves Strandels and have just released their debut EP, Chance of Rain. The duo’s sound and style are planted firmly in the folk-pop mould, with one foot in the countrypop mould. But they are most definitely on the pop side of both said spectrums. This is an unmissable first body of work with irresistibly upbeat and catchy songs.
Hailing from Pyhtää in Finland, Titta has followed up last year’s debut with brand new single Bikinit. It is a song that brings with it the feeling that were it in English, it could go on to become a global smash. It sounds like it has evolved from Selena Gomez’ Hands to Myself (itself produced by Swedes, I might add), and ticks a hell of a lot of boxes in terms of what makes a hit song in the age of streaming. Do not be put off by any limitations you might have with the Finnish language! Finally, two big reinventions have happened this year that you may not yet be aware of: two Swedish pop acts turning their hands (and very successfully at that) to electro-pop. First up is child star Amy Diamond. She has taken a few years out of the spotlight after multiple albums and a Greatest Hits collection, and has re-emerged under her own name – Amy Deasismont, now 24. Highlights are This Is How We Party and Forgive. Then there is
former Eurovision star, Eric Saade. Keeping the artist moniker we all know, he has released the EP Saade. From it, Wide Awake has become a massive hit in Russia and surrounding eastern European countries, and is now starting to make an impact in the south of Europe too. The whole EP is co-written and produced by darlings of the Swedish critics, State of Sound.
www.scandipop.co.uk scandipop@gmail.com
Swedish survival guide:
Swear like a Swede By Joakim Andersson
Cursing is frowned upon by a lot of people, and it is easy to see why. It is just not fitting in certain contexts and situations. However, it is a significant part of a language and the culture using it. For instance, did you know that most cultures have their own unique way of cursing? This is of course reflected in their languages. For instance, Germans curse with a little help from excrements and Americans use intercourse in their interjections, while the Japanese do not use foul language in this manner at all. What do the Swedes do then? We use numbers and occasionally summon the devil. There are several levels to cursing in Swedish, and the expressions seen as less naughty are those made up by numbers. In Sweden, bad words mostly have a religious origin and in the past it was common to 116 | Issue 95 | December 2016
amplify them with numbers, such as ‘sjutton’ (17), ‘attans’ (an old word for 18), and ‘tusan’ (meaning 1,000). All the little devils and other bad things coming after those numerals have vanished over time, and the measurements are all that is left. ‘För tusan!’ ‘Sjutton också!’ ‘Attans!’ Religious curses are not particularly rare in Europe, and where Roman languages curse by the Madonna, in Sweden we summon the devil. The most common curse is ‘fan’. It is a name for the devil and is to cursing what ‘hej’ is to greetings. It is used all the time: when you hurt yourself, when something goes wrong, even as an intensifier. ‘Fan, vad snygg du är idag!’ (Damn, you look good today!) The Swedish word for devil is ‘djävul’, and that too is used like ‘fan’ but in the plural ‘djävlar’ or
‘jävlar’. A third name for the devil is ‘satan’, which is also used in this way, though less frequently. So next time you need to blow off some steam, swear like a Swede and do it with numerals!
Joakim Andersson is a Swedish musician, YouTuber, podcaster, and entrepeneur who calls himself an enjoyer of life. He is the founder of Say It In Swedish, which is a podcast, web and mobile app, and YouTube channel that teaches modern Swedish in a fun and easy-going way for free. Check it out at www.sayitinswedish.com