Scan Magazine | Culture | Columns
Scandinavian music By Karl Batterbee
Erik Hassle is all geared up for the release of his new album, Innocence Lost, which is out on 27 January. In the meantime though, the Swedish artist has gifted us with new single Missing You, which is a bit of a stunner. A distorted production only serves to accentuate the gut punch that is contained within the song’s message. Explaining the track, Hassle says: “It comes from a real story of losing somebody way too early. I sang it one-and-a-half times, because I broke down on the second take. The lyrics speak for themselves.” Talking about making an impression – Danish artist Yulez has just released her debut single. It is Tough Knuckle, which packs an almighty impact on first listen. A charmingly disengaged vocal adds to the feeling that she sounds as if she knows exactly how awesome she is at this pop music lark already.
Also making a big impact right now is the new single by Icelandic singer/songwriter Steinar, Play With Hearts. He has already been making and releasing music for a few years now, but it is with this song that he is appearing firmly on everybody’s radar. It is a well-crafted track with a production that taps right into the current sound and scene, and is the first release of his that positions him as a real global proposition. After debuting earlier in the year with Cool My Rush, Finnish-Swedish-American artist Kiara Nelson is back with follow-up single Bulletproof. It is an ice-cool synthpop number that soon heats up thanks to a pretty explosive chorus. It is even better than her promising debut. Long may she continue with this trajectory. After Faded and Sing Me to Sleep, both created in 2016, Norwegian genius Alan Walker returns with his third single,
Alone. This time around he has roped in a Scandipop favourite to provide vocal duties: Noonie Bao from neighbouring Sweden. The song itself is another magical synth soundscape in the style and standard we have become accustomed to hearing from Alan. This debut album is going to be incredible, isn’t it?
www.scandipop.co.uk scandipop@gmail.com
Swedish survival guide:
Royal behaviour in a rude guise By Joakim Andersson
To non-Swedes, Swedes can seem shy or even rude. This is one of the more ignorant stereotypes roaming the world today and, although there is of course a reason for its existence, it is unknown to the majority and not taken into consideration when judging a whole people. Some cultures are very open and chatty (we are looking at you, America), and when Swedes fail to respond well to a behaviour they consider to be ‘too much’, they are often instantly labelled as rude. But Swedes are not an anti-social group of Scandinavians; the winter darkness has not made them stone cold and heartless. If they were, the expression ‘if there is room in the heart, there is room for the butt’ would not be a thing. In fact, you are probably thinking of the Finns. Jokes aside, Swedes like to mind 122 | Issue 96 | January 2017
their own business and will most likely only interact with strangers when they have to or are politely asked to. Some of the Swedes’ introverted streaks originate from the Swedish Gustavian era at the end of the 18th century. King Gustav III had big plans for Sweden and wanted to unite the people with one unified Swedish language, founding the Swedish Academy to curate it and dressing up the people in different official Swedish costumes, which would make it easy to spot who belonged to which class in society. He introduced the same etiquette used at the French court to his own court, thus pushing aside the old medieval habits such as eating with your hands and using the table cloth as a handkerchief. Now there was a real set of rules to follow. Like all things royal, these ‘rules’
spread across the nation, first to the nobility, of course, and then to the common people, taming the Swedes and laying the foundation for today’s inaccurate image of the Swedes as shy and rude.
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