When It Rains, It Pours Talented Swedes

Name: Tove Styrke

Genre: Pop

When She Started: 2009

Most Like: Robyn

The Sound: Radio pop with some good ol’ Swedish melancholy

Tove Styrke’s hit song “Call My Name” could easily hurl her into the ranks of the Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson set, both for her high-energy grrl pop sound and her meteoric bio. Young Tove, now 19, was in the midst of a successful modeling career — for obvious reasons — when she went in for a fiery stint on Swedish Idol. She finished in third, but considering the love that followed — which extended to the New York Post in 2011 –  she may as well have taken the title.

Her melodic pop debut single “White Light Moment” reached  #5 on the Swedish charts, and her debut, self-titled album hit #10. Her song “Call My Name” came out on a later release of the same album, solidifying her place as a future icon.

The reason then, that I equate her to Robyn and not the top 40 ladies is because of her wide range of musical styles. It’s clear that she’s taking cues from her fellow creative Swedes, and “Call My Name” isn’t entirely representative. Listen, for example, to “High and Low,” which straddles indie territory with these lighter, nuanced New Order beats.

It’s highly refreshing to find an artist with true diversity in her music. For this reason we recently highlighted Tove in our special Swedish pop-themed MTV Iggy Show for episode 14. Whatever is in the water over there, they should probably nationalize it.