Jonas Alaska

Today's feature, Jonas Alaska, is  a discovery I made through Spotify's "What's New" section. Jonas (born 1988), from Åmli, Aust Agder, Norway, released his self-titled debut album in September on Jansen Plateproduksjon. Despite his young age, Jonas Alaska is an incredibly talented lyricist and songwriter with a characteristic sound and a strong voice. After a series of shows, including by:Larm in Oslo in February, many have their eyes on the talent from the south. As a consequence of those concerts, Jonas has played many of the larger festivals in Norway this summer. Artists like Paul Simon, John Lennon and Bob Dylan are often mentioned as references for Jonas Alaska’s music, but as southern Norwegian newspaper Arendals Tidende wrote about the 22-year old: Despite his tight trousers, harmonica, boots and guitar, he is no copycat of Dylan. Jonas Alaska has his own characteristics and his own sound, also fit for the present. The album consists of 11 songs written by the artist, most of them during the past two years. The songs range from heart-wrenching songs, to ballads with captivating harmonies and up-tempo tunes with elements of Americana, folk and pop - all with an original sound, both lyrically and melodically. Alaska’s lyrics often focus on themes such as love, politics and tragedy, but also the simpler things in life that everyone can relate to. Other than Alaska himself on vocals, piano and acoustic guitar, this incredibly talented team of well-known musicians contribute on the album: Thom Hell: Guitar, piano, organ, vocals Even Ormestad: Bass, piano, keyboards Martin Horntveth: Drums, percussion David Wallumrød: Organ, piano Marius Graff: Banjo Audun Borrmann: Electric guitar Thomas Aslaksen: Drums Marcus Forsgren: Electric guitar. Don't hesitate and give his music a try!

@ Amli, Norway

♫ Folk, Pop

♥ October (mp3)

♥ Tonight (mp3)

▸  Facebook

▸ Official Website

+ Spotify

Rebekka Karijord

The last few weeks I discovered that my internship is, with its long days, quite time consuming. That's why you haven't seen updates on here for quite a while. But I still am discovering lots of new interesting music, so I'll try to share those as much as possible with you from now on. Today's feature is Rebekka Karijord. Rebekka was born in 1976, in Northern Norway (Lofoten). She lived with her mother her whole growth. Both her parents are artists. Rebekka went to several musical/performance educations such as the Norwegian Musical Theatre, Academy of ballet and she also went to the Royal Academy of Acting in Stockholm. She has a Swedish family and after four years living in Stockholm she feels she has two homes, one in Sweden and one in Norway. Rebekka composed her first song when she was 3 years old, recorded her first demo with her own songs when she was 8 years old. She also learned how to play piano and the violin during her whole growth. She started composing English songs when she was 12 years old and contributed with her talent to Children’s records and NRK (Norwegian TV) as vocalist, songwriter and actress during her whole growth. When she was 17 years old she was contracted to a major record company, but left out as they tried to control her artistic visions. Afterwards she immediately procured her own computer to start composing digitally, on her own. Rebekka’s music is probably inspired by Northern Norway, more specially Lofoten, where her family lives these days. Her dream would be living in Lofoten with her computers, microphones and just keep creating these beautiful tunes.Rebekka never intended to only sing beautifully, she wanted to project a story with her voice. She wants people to listen to the recording and understand what she went through earlier the same day. To this date, she has released three studio albums, all under slightly different artist names. In 2003 she released Neophyte (as Rebekka) followed by Good or Goodbye in 2005 with Peder Kjellsby (as Rebekka & The Mysterybox) and her latest album The Noble Art of Letting Go as Rebekka Karijord.

@ Stockholm, Sweden

♫ Alternative, Acoustic, Folk

♥ Wear it Like A Crown (mp3)

♥ Noble Art of Letting Go (mp3)

▸ Facebook

▸ Official Website

Anna Von Hausswolff

I am having a really hard time remembering the first time I heard Anna von Hausswolff. But what I will never forget is how her music touched me from the very first seconds she started singing on “Track of Time”. With one the of most honest and expressive vocals I’ve ever heard, Anna makes you feel it in your bones. “Her voice is that of total expression” as her bio says it. On her ten-track debut album, Singing from the Grave, which was released in May after her Track of Time EP, 23-year-old Swedish pianist and singer-songwriter Anna von Hausswolff sings about gloomy Sundays, lovers lost at sea, life, death, pills, and all things gloomy in between. Although Anna already has been attracting plenty of attention in Scandinavia she sadly remains somewhat obscure outside of her homeland. All genuine music lovers should give this enormously underrated album a listen and spread the love!

@ Goteburg, Sweden 

♫ Alternative, Folk

♥ Track of Time (mp3)

▸ Official Website

+ Spotify

Ida Jenshus

There were months, even years that I visited last.fm daily, but with all the recent changes, most of them not for the best in my opinion, it's often if I even visit my profile more than twice a week. What has not changed is last.fm's sometimes brilliant 'artist recommendations'. A very recent example is today's featured Ida Jenshus, which was recommended to me because I listened to Dylan LeBlanc a lot lately. Ida Jenshus, who plays the guitar since she was ten decided at age seventeen that she wanted to be a musician. After winning a talent show at the Norwegian television, Ida soon released her debut album "Colors of the Sun" which featured eleven songs, written over a five year period.She already decided her music style was going to be along the lines of Alison Krauss, Nanci Griffith and Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons when she discovered them as a teenager. The release of her debut brought her many things like playing on country music festivals, community centers, churches and ski jumps all with her band, whoo she loves and who make her touring worthwile. Last month, two years after her succesful debut, Ida released a more personal and intimate sophomore album. "No Guarantees" features clearer country elements but is also heavier and rockier on the other hand. Ida also tried to stay closer to her live sound; not necessarily perfect all the time, but shows more nerve. Ida, for me is a perfect example that talent show winners can also be succesful, by staying true to themselves.

@ Trondheim, Norway

♫ Acoustic, Folk Pop, Country

♥ My Baby's Gone (mp3)

♥ Better Day (mp3)

▸ MySpace

▸ Official Website
+ Spotify 

Josefina Sanner

Not too long ago I discovered this talented female singer-songwriter through a last.fm group called  "Scandinavian Girls" Imagine a magical fairy-tale forest, in Värmland (in the middle of Sweden) - soft dark green moss, large gray boulders, stars and sunlight, which is screened through the dense pines. And then move reminiscent of a noisy back street in Paris, with weary steps on rain-soaked sidewalks, cigarette smoke from the small crowded cafes and a false playing saxophone with a few coins in the open saxophone case... there are two distinct environments with Josefina Sanners voice and her songs becomes a very own world. A world full of opportunities, on the border between fantasy and reality, where unexpected things can take shape and form. Josefina Sanner is one of Sweden’s most prolific female singer/songwriters with over 700 written songs. When she now releases her second solo album “Love Case Scenario”, she has drawn inspiration from her childhood landscape. The result is a collection of glittering pop songs that, while being readily available also holding willfulness and exciting secrets and really touch in depth. She and producer Andreas Dahlbäck (who previously collaborated with Anna Ternheim, Thomas Andersson Wiij and Eskobar among others) together have created a minimalistic and enigmatic sound, where Josefina’s unique voice emerges more beautiful and headstrong than ever.

@ Stockholm, Sweden

♫ Pop, Acoustic, Folk

♥ Beatiful Day (mp3)

♥ Row Your Boat (mp3)

▸ Myspace

▸ Official Website

▸ Spotify

Maria Due

Another lovely singer-songwriter hailing from Scandinavia, discovered through MySpace. Maria Due grew up outside of small town of Lillesand as a simple farm girl with a passion for dreaming and singing. She discovered popular music through a random meeting with a boy with a band in the local zoo. Her skills on the organ got her into the band, and she discovered the magic of finding good melodies and playing them together. Later there were other adventures, but this experience never lost it's shine, and she kept on playing and singing with people she met. She went to France and discovered independence, she went to Oslo and discovered studies, and then she discovered the guitar. The sound of an unknown chord made new songs come to the surface and she started gathering her own band. After a while she was ready with "All the Other Birds" on her side. The God for Random Things then sent her into Duper Studio with Yngve Sætre, who produced her debut album: "Kissing in Public". Which she oh so proudly presents. Musicians include Berit Kristoffersen, Ole Ludvig Kruger, Yngve Leidulv Sætre, Eirik Askerøi, Øystein Bergsvik and Matias Monsen. The music is tipping between French sixties cheerfulness, American seventies longing folk, Stereolab electronica and Jens Lekman indiepop, and landing as a sincere and personal expression.

@ Oslo, Norway
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Come To Me (mp3)
♥ Hagerty Square (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Fallulah

Fallulah is one of my most recent discoveries. Fallulah, 24 year old Maria Apetri, will surely join the ranks of Bat For Lashes, Jenny Wilson and Marina & The Diamonds, as part of the new emerging wave of proud, bold and adventurous female popartists. Fallulah creates popmusic with finesse, integrity and a fiery, hot- tempered feel of Central Europe. Her songs defy genres and contain subtle elements of classic pop, rock´n´roll, indie, balkan, jazz and r&b. They are energetic and highly physical, which is reflected live, when Fallulah is backed by a tight quartet that plays with a teenth-grinding, feet-stomping bluesy rawness. Fallulah´s debutalbum “The Black Cat Neighbourhood” is a minimalistic horn-of-plenty; extremely ambitious and focused, but at the same time organic, personal and with an infectious, rogue energy; The catchy melodies are arranged around propulsive beats, playful percussion, folkloric strings, piano, choir, glockenspiel and dry, stabbing guitars. The album was released in February 2010 and succeeds the single “I Lay My Head”, which immediately became “Song of the week” on the highly influential Danish P3 Radio.

@ Kopenhagen, Denmark
♫ Indie, Pop, Alternative
♥ Use It For Good (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Free Music: My Bubba & Mi

Last night I discovered this folky trio from Denmark on the 3voor12 Luisterpaal, a great place to listen to new and upcoming albums. I was immediately attracted by their gorgeous and promising albumart, and fortunately after a first listen it seemed to definitely have fulfilled its promise with ten songs with everything that you always love in scandinavian music and that make you want summer to start even sooner.
My Bubba & Mi are three girls from Denmark, Sweden and Iceland that became room mates in an apartment in Copenhagen. My Bubba & Mi is a special female trio that reeled me in with their intriguing mix of folk, expert finger picking and vocal harmonies so warm they’ll melt the biggest glacier. They themselves are far more down-to-earth. “lullabies from the countryside”, is what the ladies call it. The latter might be a more accurate description, as the trio headed to the sunny, wide fields of southern Italy to record their début. The story goes as follows. An Italian bar-owner was cycling through the city of Copenhagen on holiday. He was taken in by hypnotising sounds seeping through the window of a small bar nearby. Overpowered by his curiosity the man entered and saw My, Bubba and Mia performing for a small audience. A fan was born. The man invited the ladies to come to Italy to perform their music. “All right”, the threesome said and they left. A second invitation followed soon afterwards, this time to record a CD. “Agreed”, the answer was yet again and they packed their bags. Yes, that’s how simple life can be. ‘How it’s done in Italy’ is the mesmerizing début of My Bubba & Mi and furthermore the first Beep! Beep! Back up the Truck release from an international artist. The album will be released on March 8th on CD and vinyl. The 1,500 covers are – believe it or not – hand-made by the band members themselves. Each cover is a unique piece of art. So don't hesitate and give these girls a listen to the full album stream and buy it on cd or vinyl.

@ Copenhagen, Denmark
♫ Indie, Folk
♥ Really Really (mp3)
♥ Gone (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website
+ Free "How It's Done In Italy" album

Micadelia

Micadelia, (Mika Sundqvist), was born 1989 in the small town of Skellefteå in the northern parts of Sweden. Her love for music in general, and Neil Young and Led Zeppelin in particular, led to performances on different stages in various contexts. After playing Led Zeppelin material with the band Mica and The Other Pages and doing several concerts interpreting Neil Young songs under the name of Mica and the Gold Rush, she felt that it was time to take the next step and record an album of her own. The American singer-songwriter Ferraby Lionheart was visiting Skellefteå while on tour and was invited to the studio by Micadelia to have a listen. When leaving an hour later he had ended up singing on two of the tracks, one hearty duet version of The Beatles/George Harrison’s Long Long Long and back up vocals on Nirvana’s Polly. Her own songs are coming along and slowly maturing as the sweetest of fruits. The self penned song Sadness on the debut album reveals the path Micadelia has started to wander, with great promises of a bright future ahead.

@ Västerbottens Iän, Sweden
♫ Indie, Pop, Acoustic
♥ Under The Milky Way (mp3)
♥ Hanging on the Telephone (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Asha Ali

Asha Ali is a swedish singer/songwriter whose music contains elements of indie pop and soul. She was born in Ethiopia, moved to Uganda and came to Sweden as a 9-year-old together with her family and now lives in Svedmyra, outside of Stockholm. Asha also lived in London for a year between 2001 and 2002. She first became famous in 2005 when she released a acoustic EP. called "Warm Fronts". At the end of 2006 she released her first album "Asha Ali", which almost immediately got nominated for both a Grammy and a P3 Guld. Musically she's inspired by Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Cat Power, Gillian Welch, Jackson Browne and Neil Young. This october, Asha will release her second album "Hurricane" featuring titletrack and also first single "Hurricane" and her new single "The Time is Now" which is featured in an ad-campaign for Saab.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ Hurricane (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

The Forest & The Trees

Can't remember where and when The Forest & The Trees were introduced to me. All I know is that I recognized their photo on swedesplease, probably stumbled upon their myspace profile a while ago. The fact that the TFTT are from Sweden seems promising enough for these days, and also this time Sweden delivered a taltented orchestra-folk duo. Fans of Loney Dear and folk fans in general should definitely give this duo a try.
The Forest & The Trees are Joel Edin and Linnea Edin. They live in an apartment outside of Stockholm where they sleep, eat and create music. Joel and Linnea started making music together when they were recording a christmas CD-R for their friends. As an alternative to christmas carols, they started The Forest & The Trees a year later. Right now the duo is working on an album which hopefully will be released in the autumn of this year. They consider their music to be influenced by David Bowie, Sufjan Stevens, Martha & Rufus Wainwright, Bob Dylan, Stina Nordenstam, Midlake, Jonathan Safran Foer, Beatles, Västerbotten, Russia, Magnolia, Cocteau Twins, Michel Gondry.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Alternative, Folk, Pop
♥ Mother (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Taxi Taxi!

In just two years, Taxi Taxi! has gone from bedroom demo project, to virtual indie-sensation – with the creative duo just turning 17! The Swedish pair haven't released a proper album to date, but this hasn’t stopped them from bagging slots at Europe's biggest festivals such as Roskilde and Hultsfred. On the basis of just two demos (made public via the Internet,) the identical twin sisters Miriam and Johanna Eriksson Berhan have already turned the heads of myspace travellers, enchanted live audiences in large scale, scoring prominent fan-bases in Sweden Norway and Denmark. All of this seems truly impressive considering they have achieved such success whilst juggling their music with school. Their hard work is set to pay off as May 7th sees the release of their self-titled debut EP on Efterklang's Rumraket label. The EP presents six tracks written over the last year and a half, telling stories of love and life through the eyes of the two girls. The listener gets an honest and intimate sound of indie-pop and folk projected through their unique voices and harmonies. Fingerpicked guitar and piano drive most of the tracks but the EP sees a refreshing accordion and glockenspiel mix thrown in. For this release Taxi Taxi! collaborated with producer Björn Yttling from Peter, Björn and John to really accentuate the best in the girls, boasting their impressive singing and song-writing abilities. Rumraket is extremely proud to be a part of this debut from a unique band that, without question, will be a generous contributor to the future music scene. Consider this the first taste. Taxi Taxi!'s new EP comes in a wonderful digipak printed on heavy-weight board made by the Copenhagen design duo Hvass&Hannibal.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Indie, Folk
♥ All I Think Of (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Laleh

I instantly fell in love with Laleh when I heard her first single a few years ago. Her special vocals and use of instruments created an atmosphere that I'll probably love forever. It will remain a mystery why I did not write about her earlier, probably I did not fully appreciate her music they way I do now? In Sweden, Laleh is pretty popular despite the fact that I won't consider her music to be the most radio-friendly, it is at least (unfortunately) not the regular, boring stuff you hear on the radio here. Although I certainly think that everyone who is willing to open up for a special musical experience will enjoy Laleh's brilliant work.
Laleh Pourkarim, born June 10, 1982 in Iran, is a Swedish singer-songwriter of Iranian origin. She came to Sweden when she was 12 and went to school in Gothenburg. She personally produced and wrote her 2005 eponymous debut album. At the Swedish Grammis Awards for 2005, she received seven nominations and won three: Artist of the Year, Producer of the Year, and New Artist of the Year. She also had a major acting role in the Swedish movie Jalla! Jalla!, directed by Josef Fares, which was a big success at the Swedish box office in 2000. Laleh Pourkarim still lives in Göthenburg, Sweden with her family. She studied music and drama at Hvitfeltska Gymnasiet. Greatest interests include music; she sings and plays the saxophone and percussion instruments in different bands. She likes to play all kinds of music but has a greater bent for folk music, jazz and rhythm and blues. More about the producer part; "I am a producer to all the discs I made, that's half the fun, I think, that regulate and control all parts where the song and I want to be. Since I am technologies simplifies this for me as a producer there are no borders and then what you know to do and you get the opportunity to sit alone and work, it is so nice to sit alone and work at my own pace and in a fast pace without compromising. I have also rediscovered "classical" music and orchestra which you can hear in my song "Snö". I wrote the text of the song when I was watching the snow on the way home one night, I stayed up and really looked at the glittering snow, and felt a kind of longing, really hard to explain but you will understand . It is strange how a small idea can grow into a feeling and then a song . But even though I know it is me who wrote everything, it feels not like I can take the honour for me, it feels as if the songs come from all out of the air and they are living their own lives, then I happen to be lucky to succeed in capturing them, I do not know how I can explain but I think you understand what I mean.

@ Göthenburg, Sweden
♫ Indie, Folk, Alternative
♥ Big City Love (mp3)
♥ Simon Says (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

The Late Call

The last time I visited Tapete Records' website was ages ago, until I checked it last week. With "The Late Call" as a result. The Late Call from Stockholm creates an intimate and atmosphere on his album, that seems to give you an insight on Johannes Mayer's lovelife, with answered and unanswered love and added ecstasy by acoustic instrumentals.

Leaving Notes is definitive proof that a long distance relationship leaves its mark. Leaving Notes is also proof that you don’t need much more than some acoustic instruments and good songs to create a staggeringly brilliant pop album. In the time spent waiting for the late phone calls from his girlfriend, Stockholm singer/songwriter Johannes Mayer, who performs under the name The Late Call, appears to have frequently reached for his guitar producing the tangible emotions contained on this record. Through the first notes you are drawn into a very special atmosphere and you will quickly understand that what you’re hearing is not another pop record constructed on the drawing-board of a hit factory. This feeling is real and does not let go of you over the full length of the album. It creates an intimacy and gives you that goose pimple feeling one usually only associates with listening to Nick Drake, Damien Rice or José Gonzalez. The eleven songs manage to convey the bittersweet feeling between the farewell, the departure and the arrival which the 27-year old knows only too well. During the recordings, emphasis has been placed on the use of acoustic instruments creating The Late Call’s warm and distinctive sound. “Thinking what to say” is carried by a vibraphone while in the background an old piano is playing one of those melodies which won’t leave your head and will follow you through your day. Accordions and harmoniums often pave the way to lighter acoustics and the great string arrangements such as those on “Cards on the table” and “The Summertime” speak of a musical aesthetic that is impossible to resist. “Leaving Notes” sounds like a manifesto against modern Saturday-night-partying and is a rare musical find.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Acoustic, Folk, Pop
♥ Cards on the Table (mp3)
▸ Myspace

The Little Hands of Asphalt

The Little Hands of Asphalt was recommended to me by one of Spoon Train Audio's staff when I contacted them about My Little Pony (amazing as well). I immediately had a listen to his full album that was streaming at his Myspace back than. And there it was, Leap Years instantly became a serious contender for my top ten albums of this year. Sjur sings with so much honesty and genuine emotion that it can't left you unmoved.

Oslo is a small town. And Sjur Lyseid has been one of the driving forces in the growth of the indie-scene in the city in recent years. By being a musician and vocalist in Monzano, but also as a contributor in a number of bands and projects, and in the last year as a producer for, among other things, My Little Pony, Nomber 5s, Einar Stray and Roger Græsberg. But his folk project The Little Hands of Asphalt is where his hart lies. LHoAFolk pop with a country feeling that leans on artist like Elliot Smith and Conor Oberst. The lyrics are about lost, found or rejected love, about the sea that rises and golf power turns. And about Oslo. On the 9th of March Little Hands' debut-album Leap Years, produced by underground completely Kenneth Ishak was released. The album will be released as a collaboration between the acclaimed How is Annie Records and Spoon Train Audio. As a live band LHoA is a loose collective of rotating instrumentalists, with contributors from, among other things, Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson, Yonakit, My Little Pony and Monzano. With everything from two to eight members have Little Hands made a series of concerts in Oslo.

@ Oslo, Norway
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Oslo (mp3)
♥ Highway's Pull (mp3)
▸ Myspace
+ Free EP

Steso Songs

Most of my new music discoveries are badly timed. Often when I'm extremely busy with collegestuff and definitely have no time to go on a "new music discovery adventure" I always seem to stumble upon a treasurechest of new great music. Steso Songs was no exeption, while studying for one of my exams a few weeks ago I stumbled upon her music on a swedish online music store, where it was one of the bestselling albums. Immediately had a listen at her Myspace, and liked what I heard. Steso Songs's debut EP features four nice pop songs, that will get you humming a long in no time.
Steso Songs is Karolina from Malmö. She started her first band when she was 12 with some friends. They wrote songs about boys, teenage fears and how pissed they were of life, school, anything, everything. Now, she writes about quite the same things. She lives together with her acoustic piano. "I can't get along with anyone else, i guess. and that's great because it means more songs, faster" she says. After gigs in every little town in Sweden, after getting one million questions when she will release her debut album, after stupid escapes into even more stupid jobs, after long cries in front of a dusty piano, after sessions of song writing more filled with anxiety than with pleasure, after worrying, after a bit chance and after pulling my self together a little, her first record is finally done. An EP. It's still unsure when her full length debut album will be released. The EP was recorded in Gothenburg by Kalle von Hall and in Malmo by Christian Berg and Nicklas Stenemo and will be released on May 23 on the label Lyckan.

@ Malmö, Sweden
♫ Indie, Pop
♥ Blinding Light Of Love (mp3)
♥ Tonight It's Oh Too Dark (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Two White Horses

Two White Horses are siblings James and Lovisa Nyström. They started singing together when they were in the Säkert!'s band out on tour. Spontaneity is what their debut album is about. They took some songs they liked and made it their own. Whether it's ABBA or El Perro del Mar. The album is half filled with covers, or their own interpretations of the songs if you prefer to call it that way, and some of their own songs. In the songs we hear the interaction between the two band members and, Jakob with electric guitar and keyboards by Loviisa. Good Times Are Gone Forever, is one of the best tracks on the album, but it is in their own songs like Naked Natives with small fine stringed instrumental pieces where they shine the most. It is only then that they show that they can write great lyrics. Many of the album covers are brilliant, and their cover of El Perro del Mar "Candy" is great. But I would like to see more of their own material, that on this album actually has the tendency to fall slightly in the shadows of the covers. I hope we will hear more from Two White Horses in the future, when they maybe make an album filled with their own songs, so they may show that they are able to stand completely on their own feet.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Good Times Are Gone Forever (mp3)
♥ Eyes of the Noble (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Choir of Young Believers

"Infectious, intimate melodic folk songs worthy of your ears"

Choir of Young Believers was indirectly recommended to me by Anika (from Anika In London) . She went to one of their gigs not too long ago, and the "choir" in their name caught my eye. I immediately fell in love with their melodic folk songs, which remind me in some way of the Fleet Foxes. They have the same harmonic folk pop songs with a hint to a churchchoir.

Choir Of Young Believers is a new Danish act, with great international potential. The man behind this band is the 24 year old, Danish, Greek and Indonesian Jannis Noya Makrigiannis. For many years, Jannis has moved in the underground circles of the Danish indie scene and been a part of the legendary band, Lake Placid. Since 2006 he has been working on his solo material, which has now resulted in the debut EP from Choir Of Young believers, called “Burn The Flag“. The songs for the EP were written in Berlin, Copenhagen and in a small town on the Greek island Samos, where Jannis lived for a while. Musically, Choir Of Young Believers is located somewhere between low key folk and grandiose indie pop, ambitiously combining a cool Nordic distance with a true presence and vitality. In spite of his young age, Jannis writes mature intelligent songs. The melodies are simple and beautiful while the arrangements surprises and overwhelms the listener. Live, Choir of Young believers can take many different shapes and sizes. Sometimes it is a solo performance with guitar or piano and other times you will see up to eight people on stage, including strings and percussion. You never know what you will get, apart from the beautiful voice and cool presence that Jannis always delivers. Choir Of Young Believers is signed to Danish label Tigerspring, who in May 2007 released “Burn The Flag” nationally, to great reviews. Choir Of Young Believers performed at Roskilde Festival, before going on a national tour in the fall of 2007. In early 2008 COYB won two major awards in Denmark as “talent of the year” and “hope of the year”. Their debut album "This is For The White in Your Eyes" was released last year.

@ Copenhagen, Denmark
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Next Summer (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Obél

Credits go to t-mobile for introducing me to Obél's music! T-mobile is following the trend Apple started (don't know for sure who started it) to feature songs from (female) singer-songwriters in their commercials, which proves now once again, is great to discover great new music!

Obél is a Danish singer, songwriter and musician who now lives in Berlin. She began playing the piano as a child, and soon discovered songwriting. In her late teens Obél founded the Copenhagen based band Sohio, together with the Danish musician and producer Elton Theander. The two worked together for several years before going their own way. Nowadays Obél is known for her do-it-yourself attitude towards music making. She writes, plays, sings, records and produces her material. Obél’s debut single “Just So”, that was written and recorded in her bedroom, was chosen for a big T-mobile/T-home campaign. The song was found by MassiveTalent, a division within MassiveMusic that finds talented artists and operates as a direct link between artist and advertising agencies. The Single and videoclip of the song “Just So” will be in store on the 20th of February. At the moment Obél is working on her debut album.

@ Copenhagen, Denmark
♫ Indie, Pop, Acoustic
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Lowood

Lowood's yet another talented duo from Scandinivia. I sometimes wonder if music is in people's genes over there. Why else are there so many great musicians from Scandinavia? (click to see all featured artitsts from scandinavia on LMLI) Lowood also has the "unique" scandinavian sounding songs, that you would never find in the Netherlands (for example). Give it a listen!
Therese Johansson, the main figure and songwriter in Lowood, stems from the pensive but uneventful rural parts of middle Sweden, something which spawned both the creativity and yearning that defines her and musical partner Kicki Halmos’ debut album. ‘Close To Violence’ tells of the leaving and of the longing that is as much connected with Smalltown, Sweden as the tribulation of complex affection. ‘Close To Violence’ is a cathartic pop album, a collection of songs which contrasts perfect musical harmony and minor key melodies with stories of imperfect relations. The songs on ‘Close To Violence’ resemble fragments that tell of love’s hope and failure, but are ultimately the chapter that closes the book on this part of her life. The fragility pierces, deep and forthright, and is sometimes so naked that it becomes almost overbearing. But Lowood don’t carry a message of resignation – there is no weakness here. Instead, the music and words convey hope and willpower between the lines. Lowood’s soundscapes are sometimes desolate and sparce, sometimes as impalpable and intangible as air, but occasionally burst with the force of conviction that resembles the electric legacy of pop’s eternals. ‘Close To Violence’ is obviously a work by lovers of music of intense emotional charge. But Lowood’s musical language is in the true sense of the word their own. Therese Johanssons personal songwriting, sense of melody and unparalleled voice appears to have been made for the sort of introspective pop music and expression that has become a necessity in her life. Therese and Kicki effortlessly complete each other, and with Therese’s crisp guitar adorned by Kicki’s lush keyboard melodies, this album is a masterwork of ethereal but jagged beauty.

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Indie, Alternative, Pop
♥ Crash (mp3)
♥ Close to Violence (mp3)
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