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Eight sizzling Swedish songs for this July

July brings a haul of great new Swedish pop – let our music writer, Paul Connolly, take you through the very best.

Published: 8 July 2016 13:20 CEST

Eight sizzling Swedish songs for this July

Icona Pop at the Summerburst festival. Photo: Frida Winter/TT

1. Louis The Child & Icona Pop – Weekend

The Stockholm duo, er, pop up on this dazzling lament to partying too hard on schoolnights. “We’ve been treating weekdays like the weekend.” Song of the month.

2. Peg Parnevik – We Are (Ziggy & Carola)

We’ve featured Peg before but we weren’t expecting a summer song this huge and this ubiquitous. Turn on that sunshine, quick.

3. Christie & The Dream Beats – Wasn't My Fault

Big, bouncy and decidedly retro, this poppy rock mammoth benefits from not one, but two, choruses. And it sounds quite a lot like prime Pat Benatar.

4. Sabina Ddumba – Kingdom Come

Ddumba’s run of terrific singles takes a reggae/dancehall diversion on this chugging little classic.

5. Metronomy & Robyn – Hang Me Out To Dry

Robyn provides vocals for this compelling chunk of electronica about nostalgia, friendship and desire.

6. Olsson, featuring Mapei – Hold On

Well-fed funk with Mapei’s glorious voice floating over the top. Debut single from Stockholm’s Christian Olsson.

7. Big Wild, featuring Tove Styrke – Aftergold

Another guest vocal appearance, this time from Umeå native, Tove Styrke on Big Wild’s boldly inventive nugget of pop.

8. Death Team – Jump

Toytown 90s piano riffs dominate Death Team’s take on relationship discord, which is as effervescent and oddball as usual. The chorus, however, is very similar to Babylon Zoo’s 1996 one-hit wonder, Spaceman.

You can watch all the videos here and listen to the Spotify playlist here. All Paul's Swedish playlists since 2014 are also available on those pages.

Thirteen fantastic songs for March in Sweden

Icona Pop's new single is a return to form. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT

1. Icona Pop – Someone Who Can Dance

The duo are back with their best single since the globe-straddling I Love It. This features bone-crushing beats, a giant hook and the kind of desperate, too-honest lyrics for which Tove Lo is noted.

2. De Montevert – It’s Alright, I’m Probably Dreaming

A little bit Velvet Underground, a wee bit Stereolab and a big bit gorgeous.

3. WDL – Hurricane High Life

The belting new single from Swedish producer WDL (aka Johan Wedel) is the follow-up to Stardust – both singles are taken from his debut album No Wings Airline, which comes out later this year.

4. Selena Gomez – Hands To Myself

This slinky, slightly off-kilter tune is 2016's biggest-hit-so-far for Sweden's Max Martin, a man only bested in the number of hit singles he's had by Messrs Lennon and McCartney.

5. Zara Larsson feat. Tinie Tempah – Lush Life

We first wrote about Larsson in 2014 so it seems incredible she's still only 18. But she's about to replicate her huge success in Sweden, globally, with this slightly re-tooled version of her biggest hit. Watch her fly.

6. Saturday, Monday, Brolin – Pilgrim

Bruised, melancholy and addictive, this track from Stockholm producer Saturday, Monday features UK producer Brolin on vocals.

7. Tove Lo – Scars

A brand new track from Lo – it's on the soundtrack for the new film, Allegiant, the final chapter in the Divergent trilogy.

8. The Flights – Falcon Fly

A brooding rock epic to counterbalance the chirpy electro pop of last single, Candle Wax. Check out the majestic video, too.

9. YAST – I Don’t Think She Knows

YAST may never have listened to anything other than 90s American alt-rockers Dinosaur Jr and Pavement but their mimicry is so very good.

10. Badlands – Echo

Badlands is Stockholm native, Catharina Jaunviksna and Echo is sublime, 80s-tinged chilled-out synth pop.

11. LNKAY – Overload

We featured LNKAY's first single, Hurricane, last autumn. Overload is just as mellow and lovely.

12. Julia Adams – Brändes

In the absence of new material from Adams, here's a live rendition of the glacially beautiful Brändes.

13. Mavrick – Funeral

We're tipping Mavrick for big things and the gospelly, funky Funeral does nothing to change our minds.

You can listen to the Spotify playlist here and watch the YouTube playlist here.

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