In the end it's all or nothing

A few random notes (some covered earlier on Twitter):



The new song I've found most enchanting in the past few days is from Matisse, the American singer who used to be one half of Brit & Alex (of the pop-rock song "Let It Go" from Step Up 2). "Better Than Her," by Kevin Rudolf, is one of those songs that sounds musically simple and sweet, a fluffy little midtempo electronic pop song that to non-pop-friendly ears would probably seem totally generic. It's one of the few American songs to come out this year (so far) that I didn't have to work at liking and always look forward to playing again, though, so for my money, any success here would be well-deserved.

Swedish group Dyno has several new songs and song clips on MySpace. Their debut album is one to get excited about now, '80s synth-pop-rock that fills a gap that desperately needed to be filled. Another reminder: these guys, among other things, worked on the Erik Hassle album. Their songwriting skills are solidly in place.

Danish singer Nabiha's '60s-sounding debut single "Deep Sleep" was fine, but it was "The Enemy," her probable second single, that most got me interested in her album, Cracks, out February 1. The full studio version of "The Enemy" and several other new songs are streaming over on her MySpace (and clips of all the songs are on Danish iTunes). I very much recommend checking them out; producer Carl Rydén has reined in some of his dance tendencies to create a fun electronic pop sound that, though commercial, mainstream pop, brings just a bit of quirky something that feels a bit different in the case of at least half the tracks streaming there (something that I didn't really feel to be the case with "Deep Sleep"). It's not music that would fit in on U.S. radio, but its style would mesh with the UK music scene (not that that means it will).



I was thrilled that a1 made it through to the Melodi Grand Prix final in Norway this past weekend (as well as pleased that Karoline Garfjell qualified to the second chance round). They're only two songs into their post-reformation career (well, three if you count the [less good] song that starts around 50:45 here, taken from a telethon for Haiti, plus a couple more we've heard bits of in video blogs), but I'm very glad to have them back; they're making exactly the music I'd want them to be making at this point in time. I've had a post sitting as a draft saying more about "Take You Home" for ages, but if nothing else, it's certain to appear in my year end countdown (which is, um, still coming).

Linda Sundblad's new album, Manifest, is due out March 3. If it's full of songs as good as the three we've heard so far, it will be worth listening to.

After what seems like a long time away, young Swedish electronic duo Lo-Fi-Fnk will make a new song available on YouTube on February 2. You'll also be able to download it on that date if you sign up for an event on Facebook.

Oh, please, there's no competition

Linda Sundblad's latest single, "2 All My Girls," pulls off the surprising feat of being both more electro-pop and more pop-rock than her last solo outing, 2006's Oh My God! (exclamation point hers). Parts of the song could almost be Lambretta, albeit a tamed version, but those electro bleeps of the verse mark the song out as different territory; you can hear there that the same person who co-wrote Elin Lanto's "Speak 'n Spell" is doing this song. The kicky '80s beat is more Kim Wilde than hard rock. In fact, '90s-styled though the music video may be, "2 All My Girls" keeps up Linda's love of the '80s. This time out, though, her girlish voice coos less--though that girlishness brings an added level of snide to her "yeah, yeah" brush-off--and enters pop-rock anthem territory more...while never actually fully giving itself over to rock. The guitars are kept in check here, used to build the sound but not to drown everything else out. Nick said the song has a "schizo-melody," and he's right, with every part having its own hook, usually multiple.

There's no suble loss like "Lose You," no pure pop joyous release like "Cheat" or "Back In Time," but man, "2 All My Girls" is a heck of a lot of fun. Some people are just born with the attitude to be a popstar*--Linda's got it--and "2 All My Girls"'s songwriters and producers have fine-tuned this song into just enough control to make it pop but with the same explosive release you get from the best rock songs...or the best schlager songs, for that matter, with its great keychange and ad libs as the song moves towards its end. The end result? A killer electro-pop-meets-pop-rock song--which adds up to double the pop appeal.

To buy Linda Sundblad's new single, "2 All My Girls," go here (digital). The song will only be posted for a short time since it's a new single.

*Even if her styling wouldn't always let you know it.

There's no competition

I need to run, but Linda Sundblad's "To All My Girls"/"2 All My Girls" music video is playing here. More later!

Someone to believe in me

Mini-Linda Sundblad update: it looks like "2 All My Girls"/"To All My Girls" is released September 21 by Roxy Recordings, with this picture as the cover (which does make it seem like she might be going by just Linda this time around). I've still got no idea what it sounds like or even if it's worth getting excited about, but it's too late--I already am.

Roxy also has a series of what I'm presuming are some of the new press photos on its website here.

Tuesday edit: Linda just announced the video for the single will be available on MSN.se on Thursday.

I just wanna go back in time

Guess who's back?

Well, me, but that's besides the point.

The real news: Linda Sundblad is releasing a new single.

Since her 2006 debut solo album, the former Lambretta single has kept herself busy by hosting a Swedish radio show and composing songs for other artists--great songs like Elin Lanto's "Speak 'n Spell" and Fibes, Oh Fibes!'s new Kim Wilde-featuring "Run To You" --but now she's finally coming back to that solo career. Her new single, "2 All My Girls" or "To All My Girls," is coming out soon; one site says it's released on September 7, but if that's to radio or commercially, I'm not sure. That same site refers to it as a proper pop song with an '80s-styled video (which was made by the same people who made BWO's last few videos and Le Kid's "Mercy Mercy" video). Since she's just finished up her gig with the aforementioned Swedish radio station, she must be preparing for a proper promotional push for this new project.

I can't guarantee the song's quality, but I'm very excited to hear it. Linda's "Lose You" remains as emotionally affecting yet subtle as it was the day it was released, but Oh My God! contained other gems. I'm hoping, though, that this time her album will be even better. As I've written about before, early reports indicated the lead single from Linda's next album would be a rockier, Max Martin and Alexander Kronlund-penned song, but the '80s styled video, her latest collaborators (Johan Bobäck, the Salazar Brothers), and the songs she's composed for other artists recently make me think we could be in for more of pop sound--more electronic than rock, or electronic-meets-rock.

Your beauty was the kind that could hurt

Worrapolava's most recent post sent me off on yet another "is there any chance I can find any sort of update on what Linda Sundblad is doing?" spree (though on the Worrapalava front, Phil's post about Adam & the Ants is worth your time and I have him to thank for hooking me on the group and Adam a little while ago). Sure, she's a "featuring" artist on two recently released Rasmus Faber songs ("Everything Is Alright" and "Always" on MySpace here), but my craving for Linda's solo career has only been getting worse and worse in the time since her debut solo album, 2006's Oh My God! The former lead singer of Lambretta told Emilia de Poret in September that she'd be releasing a single written by Max Martin and Alexander Kronlund in January which would be a little rockier than her last album (not a full return to the Lambretta sound, but a move in that direction). January has come and gone, though, and I've seen no update whatsoever, which is making me pretty nervous.

The only bit of information I've been able to find is that in March she worked with the Salazar Brothers--producers whose work is often urban-oriented but who did the latest Mando Diao (a Swedish rock group) album--but I have no idea whether that was actually for her own music career and not just in a "featuring" or songwriting capacity.

If you're unfamiliar with Linda's work, here's "Bimbo," a Max Martin-penned hard pop-rock single which her former band Lambretta released in 2001. Includes the legendary line "she's been faking since day one/A friendly kiss includes no tongue."



Linda's debut solo album set aside the rock of Lambretta in favor of an electronic pop sound. The mid-tempo, moving "Lose You" is a case of perfect match of song and singer. I really can't overstate how great this song is.



The also great "Oh Father" was the lead single from that album. Linda is usually stylish, but her look in this video doesn't work for me; it's a little too '80s Kylie, though maybe that was the point--play up the ironic innocence. It's not bad, but it might be better just to press play and switch away.

Time for you to shine

Do you remember former A*Teens' member Sara's Sara Love project? It's been abandoned, but at least it left us the great trashy urban-electro-pop-R&B "Glamour Bitch."



Had Sara not abandoned her Sara Love identity for an acoustic singer-songwriter sound, I can imagine Swedish singer Anniela's new single "Strip-teaser" sounds like something Sara might have done. It's not yet out, but you can listen to a clip of it here. The song was released earlier by Greek group Crush5, but this version sounds like it will be much better.

This post has been sitting in draft for a few days now, so I've been scooped by several other blogs when it comes to several artists. Kimberly Cole is one of them. Check out The Beat Review's write-up of this American singer's music. "Superstar (Smash It)" is the song I should be most drawn to, given that it comes from the school of modern electro-influenced female solo artist pop, but I'm surprisingly drawn to several of her more mid-tempo songs even more.

Also on the scooped front: Haffi Haff (check out Scandipop's write-up and, while you're over there, the Velvet interview, too). It's probably been far too long since I last wrote about a song from Iceland. If you watched the country's national final in 2008, you might have seen Haffi Haff participating with "The Wiggle Song," an electro-squiggly song which, though interesting in theory, wasn't as good as Eurobandið's "Fullkomið líf." He's back now with some image revamping (the emo hair has been ditched) and a song written by the same man who wrote the song that beat him back in 2008--Örlygur "Öggi" Smári, maker of Iceland's best dance-pop (he's also responsible for Páll Óskar's successful comeback in 2007)--and Malta's Gerard James Borg (of many Maltese national final entries). If you were disappointed that Öggi set aside dance-pop in favor of pop-rock in this year's national final, you might be extra-pleased to hear Haffi Haff's "Give Me Sexy," which is electro-dance-pop that is schlager-fan friendly but not schlager and with just a bit of (cheesy) edge to it.

Margaret Berger, the Norwegian singer of brilliant electronic songs like "Samantha" (epic), "Will You Remember Me Tomorrow" (musical electro sunshine, even if not lyrically so), and "Robot Song" (which many have rightly pointed out Röyksopp and Robyn's "The Girl And The Robot" bears similarities in concept to) has a potential new single, "Lost In London," that might be coming out this fall (news from Popjustice and Margaret's MySpace). Great news. Now, if only Linda Sundblad would give us any sort of new music update...and Selma, too, if I'm really dreaming...

Don't Stop The Pop recently interiewed Swedish pop princesses Agnes and Rosanna; the interviews are worth your time.