Sweden’s Little Dragon specializes in English-sung, soulful electronic music. Though their band name is a reference to Yukimi Nagano’s fiery-temper during record sessions, Little Dragon’s music—a playful blend of R&B, New Wave, experimental and...
A native of Skåne, Sweden, Lykke Li has a truly global and quirky approach to her music. Employing tools such as a bullhorn, analogue voice recorders and quirky objects-turned-percussion Li creates delicately layered songs that sound damn tough. Pulling...
A blonde Swedish dance-pop diva. How prosaic, how expected, how Ace of Base, how Roxette…how ABBA. Actually, if that's what you’re thinking you're sadly behind the times. The home country of Max Martin (uber-producer/songwriter for *NSYNC, Britney...
For such young musicians, the Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit sure have seen a lot of the world. Between dropping their sophomore album Universal Soldier, working with producer Jack White, touring the globe, and sampling the world's cuisines, these...
"I think there are lots of artists that have [style], but there are lots of artists that don't have it." says the pop singer.
Check out what Robyn is like in concert in New York as well as photos of the pop queen in action!
Our producer asked what Robyn thought of Lady Gaga and opened a can of feminism he couldn't contain. See Robyn point out the sad truth throughout industry.
Check out what Robyn is like in concert in...
Growing up in a theater household blew away Robyn's concepts of gender roles and made the Swedish dance queen what she is today...a feminist.
Check out what Robyn is like in concert in New York as...
The songstress compares her audience around the world and draws connections through the world-wide web.
Check out what Robyn is like in concert in New York as well as photos of the pop queen in action!
The Swedish singer's latest project has yielded three albums to be released in one year! With two albums (Body Talk Part 1 and 2) already out, fans are anticipated the third and final!
Miike Snow, the indie electropop threesome from Stockholm, Sweden, evokes breathtaking urban imagery and striking cinematography in the video for the fourth single from their self-titled debut album. “Burial” seems to mysteriously infiltrate every radio...
Shout Out Louds are an indie rock band from Stockholm, Sweden. The band consists of ‘four boys and one girl’: Adam Olenius (vocals, guitar), Ted Malmros (bass), Carl von Arbin (guitar), Eric Edman (drums) and Bebban Stenborg (keyboards, vocals).
Fever Ray is the project of Karin Dreijer Andersson, the Swedish Electronica grandmaster also known for being one-half of the duo The Knife. Her 2009 solo album Fever Ray seems somehow timeless and cutting edge at the same time, infusing tribal and...
Promoe (Mårten Edh) is a Swedish emcee, and member of Swedish hip-hop group, Looptroop Rockers.
The Sounds are a New Wave group from Helsingborg, Sweden. With a cavernous, glorious big-room feel (as evident in this song), The Sounds' newest album, 2009's Crossing the Rubicon infuses a stadium...
Taken by Trees is the solo project of Victoria Bergsman from Stockholm, Sweden. Bergsman was singer-songwriter for The Concretes for eleven years before leaving the band in July 2006. Her sultry voice and indie-pop lightness lend balloon-like...
Post-disco band Air France, from Gothenburg, Sweden, flies direct to you with this single off their 2008 6-track EP No Way Down. Air France's music takes electronica to a cruising altitude way above the clouds with ultra-chill, almost ambient...
Fever Ray is the project of Karin Dreijer Andersson, the Swedish Electronica grandmaster also known for being one-half of the duo The Knife. Her 2009 solo album Fever Ray seems somehow timeless and cutting edge at the same time, infusing tribal and...
"Miss you" is the first single from Adiam Dymott´s debut album released in March,2009. The song was performed for the first time live at the prestigious gala P3 Guld 2009 at Scandinavium, Gothenburg.
With groovy rhythms and ethereal lyrics, "Always" was definitely meant to be the title track from their first LP, Fields. Check out MTV Iggy's intimate and exclusive performance of the track.
Itching for more songs, interviews and pics? Don't worry,...
Kissey is crucial in this week's Artist of the Week running. For one, we like looking at her, and we wouldn't mind doing it more often. But mainly, we're glued to the eclectic, offbeat singles she's been rolling out as of late.
The chanteuse's 2008...
Iggy fave Taken by Trees--the project of ethereal Swedish singer Victoria Bergsman, who recorded the last album in Pakistan--has a new video out today. It's of her disarming, gender-bending cover of...
We keep dropping tastes of the new Shout Out Louds album as they leak, but nothing is satiating us. The new video for indie-pop gem, "Fall Hard," just makes us want more. First off -- the song is an...
Robyn is everywhere. Seriously, everywhere. Her career has gone so ballistic that she's singing at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in December. The NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. The one reserved for inventors and saints and spiritual gurus and Mother Teresa and the...
In an era when most bands are slouching toward irony, The Shout Out Louds are earnest and unabashed. Singer Adam Olenius sings like he can’t hide his sadness, and the only way to get it out is by...
These Swedish sisters can really put on a show — and they did, at Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Johanna and Klara Soderberg of First Aid Kit create tender, aching folk songs with harmonies so...
We're starting to think that ska is making a comeback. Release those repressed memories of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Mustard Plug, and whatever else traumatized you in the '90s. Artists like the soulful and super slick Jaqee are giving us the feeling...
Fresh from a hot SBTRKT collaboration, Sweden electropop dream team Little Dragon has returned with their own LP -- considerably wizened since their 2007 debut.
Granted, wizened does not always mean...
Malaika means "angel" in Swahili, and despite one or two photos she uses to freak out the prudes of the world, the 22-years-young Kenyan Swede chanteuse owns up to her surname with gusto. (Not to mention...
These melancholy electro Swedes know how to please a crowd: by bumping up their studio album with house beats, and killing it with synth versions of 90s gems like "You've Got to Show Me Love," by Robin...
Stockholm-based duo Pallers is fast gathering accolades for their moody electropop debut The Sea of Memories. Johan Angergård of Club 8 and Acid House Kings teamed up with sometime collaborator (and friend from way back) Henrik Mårtensson and spent a...
Stockholm's MOA unleashed their manic "punkblues" on the unsuspecting concertgoers at New York's Living Room. Petite frontwoman Moa left drenched in sweat after her jagged, ferocious voice burned through the eight-song set.
Check through the...
Beldina Malaika is a Kenyan artist living in Sweden, yet she’s coveted by some of the American greats. At just 22, she has opened for Faith Evans and thrown down vocals for Stevie Wonder. More recently, she sang the hook on the Childish Gambino track,...
After listening to NIVA's debut EP Feverish Dreams, then playing it three times over for my actual, unwitting entertainment, let it be scrawled into scientific fact: the pleasures of NIVA are...
Most people lose touch with their high school friends, but when Swedish electropop foursome Little Dragon met in music school, the sparks flew permanently. Through 15 years of world tours, jetlag, and...
It's easy to get spooked listening to First Aid Kit.
It's as if the the twanging voices of Nashville past had been reborn in the the suburbs of Stockholm, through the throats of these...
It's a known fact that Swedes are a nation of Nordic demi-gods who wield the powers of unearthly good looks, free health care, and a flawless pop sensibility. Well, they’ve spawned again, this time in...
Hailed as Sweden's answer to Phoenix, The Concept's infectious, happy-go-lucky tunes fit the pop music formula to a T. The Stockholm sweethearts happen to know just a bit about the pop music industry-- all four members have served under the pop...
Swedish duo First Aid Kit disarms us with folk-soaked harmonies in “Emmylou,” a grand ole tearjerker. The sisters pay acoustic guitar homage to country music’s greatest duets as they serenely dance in clouds of orange smoke.
First Aid Kit is Johanna and Klara Soderberg, two Swedish sisters who grew up in the suburbs of Stockholm and make haunting acoustic music influenced by the old-time country of the Carter Family and Bill Monroe. In 2007, at the ages of just 17 and 14,...
Tove Styrke is crazy in love! The Swedish electropop singer’s longing for a lover sends her to a glammed-up psych ward in “Call My Name.” Styrke uses her pop-perfect vocals, techno-tinged production and an interesting pair of catsuited backup dancers to...
Swedish electropop trio Niki & the Dove draw up a dreamy sci-fi fantasy in the animated music video for “The Fox,” a single off their upcoming debut Instinct. While the visuals are totally computer generated, the song’s taut guitar riffs and xylophone...
When First Aid Kit first broke out around 2008, they were often the subject of muted condescension. Sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg were 18 and 15, respectively, when their YouTube cover of Fleet...
By now, it’s clear that Sweden is HQ for the Illuminati. The frosty nation is populated entirely by blonde socialist hipsters who spend their days sitting in minimalist furniture and crafting electronic pop hits. These are the facts.
Now, many of...
Name: Elliphant
Genre: Dirty Bass Pop
When They Started: 2012
Most Like: Maluca, Buraka Som Sistema
The Sound: Very raw bass influences put into a woodchipper
Elliphant is one of those mystery groups that doesn't have an official bio...
Name: Theresa Andersson
Genre: Folk pop
When She Started: 1990, but solo: 2007-2008
Most Like: Kate Bush, Gaggle, some Cocteau Twins
The Sound: Like vengeful ghosts have descended upon Mardi...
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...
Park Hotell's commitment to rock came the hard way. They're from Luleå, Sweden, a northern city within the Arctic Circle, which, in the words of lead singer Christian Ramirez, "makes Stockholm seem...
Imagine “Grease” in the year 3058. Then you’d have Swedish House Mafia’s “Greyhound!” The Stockholm house music trio offers a sleek, modern tune with futuristic imagery to match. The CGI-animated robotic race dogs race faster and faster as the beat...
The Swedish Dusty Springfield is soft-spoken, and glows from within with the sweetness of her music. Listen as she sits among the cupcakes and batter in Molly's Cupcakes's cute kitchen and tells us how she got her start, wowing Labrador Records with her...
Mmmmm, get ready for a sugar rush! Amanda Mair, sensitive Swedish songstress, melted us with her swoon-worthy melodies and piano tinkling at our MTV IGGY Live performance. It's a potent recipe that's...
Ever since Icona Pop's "Manners" broke on a Kitsuné Maison comp in 2010 and healed breakup wounds around the world, the dynamic Stockholm duo Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt have been dropping perfect pop...
Referencing the Swedish island where she grew up, Amanda Mair plays her piano on icy beaches and cold woods in her music video for "House." The song's yearning lyrics Can't you see I'm only happy/When you're in the house, has a very creepy visual...
In the music industry, many women who claim to be 'self-made' are still flanked by male promoters, directors, producers, and other dudes imparting wanted or unwanted advice or directives. But one...
Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo met at a party and, sharing the same passion for music, they quickly became BFFs. The Stockholm electro-pop artists are creating sounds both sweet and sassy. Their song "Manners" was released on Kitsune and became an instant...
This week marks the gleefully anticipated U.S. release of Instinct, the debut full-length album of Swedish electropop duo Niki and the Dove. It's been hard to avoid the well-earned media adulation over...
Name: Hortlax Cobra
Where they’re from: Stockholm, Sweden
When They Started: 2009
Genre: Synth-pop
Most Like: LCD Soundsystem, Phedre
Sounds like: The post-apocalyptic future, when...
Mom always told us not to play with fire or you’re bound to get charred. Years Away, a Swedish electronic pop duo, flirts with the flames in “Starting Fires.” The pillow-soft, melancholy tune reminds us of an 80s power ballad with clashing drums, an...
What are Gustaf and Malin of Niki and the Dove like in person? Beyond their ethereal dance anthems in interviews and videos, the duo emanate a spirit-creature energy, like forest sprites who happen to be...
Two years ago, Gnucci Banana roared into the spotlight -- dressed in a tiger suit no less -- for the cover of Miike Snow's "Animal" by Mash Up International. The new version might have struck some as strange -- it was manic and joyful, and the new beat...
Art pop princess Faye has a few taxicab confessions. “Water Against the Rocks” is a simple, escalating track that highlights the Swedish star’s capable voice range. With YouTube commenters comparing her likely crossover to the likes of an emerging Adele...
The Swedish invasion of popular music is ongoing and overpowering. I’m not going to insult your intelligence and list them (if you’ve never heard of Lykke Li, I applaud your obliviousness, but seriously...
Miriam Bryant, an emerging English Swede pop singer, stakes her claim in the game with “Finders Keepers.” Cast in black and white, Bryant provides a syrupy swarm of heavy, pleading vocals as a dramatic symphony of strings and clashing piano chords...
Name: Miriam Bryant
Where They’re From: Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre: Soul pop
When They Started: 2012
Most Like: Adele
Sounds Like: A rainy day with a hint of a panic attack
With just one single out, English-born, Swedish-raised,...
Name: Saint Lou Lou
Where they're From: Sweden and Australia
Genre: 80's melancholy pop
Most Similar: New Look, stuff on the Drive soundtrack
When They Started: 2012
Sounds Like: That...
Miriam Bryant appeared as if from nowhere with wizened, dramatic, soul-grit voice you would never guess stems from a 21-year-old Gothenburg girl. (Well, Sweden is always the second guess. But not the...
Name: Cornelia (Cornelia Dahlgren)
Where She’s From: Sweden, based in London
Genre: Jazz-tinged indie-pop
Most Similar: Corinne Bailey Rae meets Cyndi Lauper meets Lykke Li
When She Started:...
Jonna Lee of iamamiwhoami continues her mysterious rendezvous with a huge, hairy monster in “Drops” from Kin, the Swedish electro dreampop duo’s debut. As Lee dances by herself in a barren, modern apartment, her light voice mingles with the dramatic,...
Cartoon voiceover artist, Swedish Idol defector (she quit in the final rounds!), label manager -- these are just some of the biographical standouts for Cornelia, the Swedish-bred, London-based indie-pop artist to watch if you're down with nostalgia,...
Everyone knows that one is never, ever enough. Handsome Stockholm quartet The Concept, indie pop newbies, can relate. Their single “Gimme Twice” screams hipster…their ever-present leather jackets, shaggy but chic hair and generous dose of tough groupie...
Oh to be young, Swedish, and ridiculously popular. Avicii’s omnipresent, chart-peaking, EDM-meets-Etta-James James track “Levels” speeds up the countdown to Friday with “Levels.”
We wouldn’t want to be the guy that pissed Karin Park off. In her latest video for “Thousand Loaded Guns,” the Swedish electro-pop singer gets some serious revenge on an ex, and she looks damn good doing it. Off her latest album Highwire Poetry, the...
Name: Karin Park
Where She’s From: Dalarna, Sweden
When She Started: 2003
Genre: electro pop
Sounds Like: An all-night jam session between Lykke Li and Robyn, with Karin's voice sounding...
Alesso may be young, but he's already got quite the resume in the EDM world. The Swedish DJ and producer specializing in progressive house music was first noticed for his remixes of other EDM legends such as Swedish House Mafia, Kaskade, and Tiesto. But...
Kalle Gracias keeps it chic and simple with “Tvåtusentolv” or “2012.” The Norrland, Sweden emcee and model’s lyrics are lushly highlighted with simple, piano riffed production and sparse drum beats. We get a glimpse of breathtaking Northern nature as he...
Words and Interview by Kathy Iandoli.
There was a time long ago when Sarah Assbring had no intention of making music again. The Swedish siren spent years in the volatile slash analog Do-It-Yourself...
Name: Graveyard
Where They're From: Gothenburg, Sweden
When They Started: 2006
Genre: Doom metal with a soupcon of Creedence
Most Similar: Kadavar, Glorior Belli
Sounds Like: Black Sabbath...
One of the more lovable characters to come out of Gothenburg, Sweden is Jens Lekman, a decade-long industry veteran who has garnered comparisons to Belle & Sebastian due to his twee poppy sound (though...
Who said that the youth is wasted on the young? Not Saturday, Monday. The Swedish post-dubstep electro band depicts a party of epic proportions – we’re talking colored smoke and roller skates, people – with synth and electro keyboard action, record...
Ok, Sweden. You’ve already proved that you're the best at music. You secretly run the pop music industry. You have all the dreamiest indie rock girls. You have the Swedish House Mafia, whose annual take in DJ fees rivals the GDP of certain small...
Otto Knows, a house DJ from Stockholm, takes us back to the lofty days of summertime in “Million Voices.” A gaggle of kids in Seine-et-Marne, France have authentic afternoon fun on their skateboards. Their rapidfire moves aren’t just powered by wind –...
Name: Kriget, or Christoffer Roth, Gustav Bendt, & Per Nordmark
Where they're from: Stockholm, Sweden
When they Started: 2010 ish
Genre: Math noise? Avant-digital hardcore? I give up
Most...
Kate Boy, an Australian-Swedish band, gets artsy in “Northern Lights,” a single from their EP of the same name. An obscure-but-sleek
rotating sculpture consists of components of the group’s personality – along with lone guitar strums and a catchy...
Elliphant, a Stockholm dirty pop group, makes Iceland a little bit hotter with “Down On Life” from a forthcoming self-titled EP. As the bevy of ponytailed vixens glamorously explore the country’s sandy shores, a whirly combination of synth, strong drum...
Name: Sebastian Mikael
Where he’s From: Gothenburg, Sweden
When He Started: 2010
Genre: Pop soul
Most Similar: Daley, Miguel
Sounds Like: Collegiate coffeeshop r&b teenage dream
Sebastian Mikael is a thrifter. This may seem like a...
Words and Interview By Laura Studarus
Every December, Gävle, Sweden shares its city center with an oversized Yule goat (who is usually burned down by arsonists after a few scant weeks). Tall and...
