Sweden's got talent: life beyond Eurovision

With the whole of Sweden seemingly trembling with excitement about the Eurovision song contest, outsiders coming in could be forgiven for thinking that Swedish music was all sequins, spandex and euro cheese.

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Not so. With Swedish artists receiving commercial and critical acclaim across the globe and a number of exciting new musicians coming on to the scene, insiders agree that there is a lot of great alternative music being created and produced in Sweden.

“Vivid” is the word used to describe the current state of the music scene by Pelle Moeld, DJ, host and producer of the P3 Lab radio show.

“Foreigners might say that there is a ‘Swedish sound’ but I don’t think that there is,” adds Moeld, who has been spotting and championing new music for the past 12 years.

Lykke Li, Robyn and Peter, Bjorn and John have achieved the rare feat of both selling records and winning acclaim from the notoriously fickle international music press.

Influential British music magazine NME called Lykke Li’s 2008 debut album “simple but sensational.”

Robyn collaborated with Snoop Dogg on the song “Sexual Eruption” and her self titled album was nominated for the best electronic/dance album award at the recent Grammy’s.

“The new Swedish artists take their influences from everyone,” enthuses Moeld, “There is a lot of great hip hop as well as bands.”

Up and coming artists to watch out for include rapper, That Dude Prince.

Indie five piece, Springfactory make fun pop songs reminiscent of another one of Sweden’s most well known musical exports, The Cardigans.

Female electronic duo, Small Feral Token create edgy pop songs to dance to.

For those who like heavier music, unsigned Jönköping band Knivderby make “Totally fucked up rock ‘n’ roll,” said Moeld.

“There is just so much going on,” says Moeld. “There is a lot of great music coming out of Gothenburg and Jönköping especially.”

So if you are looking for an alternative to a Saturday night at home watching Melodifestivalen try going to see some local music talent – they might just be the next big thing.