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

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

Free Music: Emilie Lund

Emilie Lund from Stockholm, Sweden. Emilie is a young and talented singer/songwriter who is inspired by musicians like Nick Drake and Coco Rosie. Listening to music of others is by far not her only inspiration: Studying theatre at daytime and taking long walks through the nightly streets of Stockholm is part of her musical recipe. But the most important ingredient for her music is a remote area, far away from the city, somewhere in the Swedish countryside. The woods around that area can be seen as one of her main sources of inspiration. She spent half of her life in a house, practically in the forest – where she used to live with her parents. Whenever she gets there, creative things happen. She doesn’t need much to sound as wonderful as she does: “I like to make music with simple tools, whatever I can find in the house, my voice and my guitar.” Emilie sees beauty in simplicity. Things, just like music, have to have a soul, she says. “The music has to come from somewhere, a feeling that you just need to express. I love simplicity and intimacy and I try not to think too much about the sound.” After Emilie recorded a handful of songs in 2007, we stumbled upon her via Myspace. We immediately fell on love with her music and asked her whether she would like to release an EP with us. We can’t tell you how glad we are she agreed. The 5 tracks of the Emilie Lund EP can be downloaded for FREE – you are also free to copy and redistribute the songs for non-commercial purposes.

@ Sweden
♫ Indie, Acoustic, Pop
♥ Childhood Friend (mp3)
▸ Myspace
+ Free Emilie Lund EP

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

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)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website
+ Preorder

New Moscow

This was a recommendation from my girlfriend, she heard it on a episode of One Tree Hill, and really liked it; as did I... Isn't it great to have a girlfriend that shares your musictaste? ;)
New Moscow started in the spring of 2005, and is the creation of Division Of Laura Lee guitarist David Fransson. David recorded and produced the album on his own and he also played all the instruments. New Moscow plays indiepop/rock with catchy melodies - noisy but not loud. Both music and lyrics have more in common with singer-songwriters than with the garage-punk rock David otherwise plays in Division Of Laura Lee. Lots have happened since New Moscow started 2005. Andreas Nordström (drums) and Mattias Engwall (bass) have joined the band. The song “Slow Down” has been included in the hit TV Show Grey’s Anatomy… twice. The series is seen by 20 million Americans every week. The first of the two episodes (episode 19 season 2) is aired in Sweden on Kanal 5 by Christmas. A first single, “C’mon Up”, has been released in the UK by the small and credible indie label Young and Lost Club Records. The single attracted alot of attention and will be included in legendary record shop Rough Trades coming compilation. Their next album "Slow Down" will be out early next year.

@ Kållands Island, Sweden
♫ Indie, Acoustic, Pop, Rock
♥ Taking Back What's Mine (mp3)
♥ Slow Down (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website