A most distinguished singer

Another singer who has grabbed my attention in the last 12 months is Melissa Horn. A classic specimen of Swedish folksy popsy guitarry singer-songwriter. Her songs can seem quite unassuming at first, but really get under your skin after a few listens, helped by some excellent lyrics.

Her second album, Säg ingenting till mig (Don’t say anything to me), was released last autumn and is full of great tunes. With song titles such as Did you let her come closer, Who left who, I’ll miss you tomorrow and Feel sorry for me now, we’re not talking a laugh a minute here. But we all need a bit of melancholy now and then, no?

Here is the first song of hers I heard, Jag kan inte skilja på, which loosely translated means I can’t distinguish.

“I can’t distinguish whether I want to win you,
I can’t distinguish whether I want to be with you,
I can’t distinguish whether I want to get rid of you,
I can’t distinguish whether I want to hurt you”

OK, so it works better in Swedish :-) But enjoy!

A tribute to Hafdis Huld

So. I have about two and a half years of music to catch up on. But don’t worry, I’m not going to give you a blow by blow, month by month account. However, as I start up again, hopefully bringing you lots of new music, I feel obliged to post a few bits and pieces from the last couple of years.

And so that’s where I’m going to start. With one of the singers I’ve listened to most: Hafdis Huld.

(I'm not really sure I should call it a tribute actually. It almost makes it sound like she's dead, which she most definitely isn't!)

Hafdis is one of those cute Icelanders, who are a bit quirky and a bit bonkers and speak and sing in English with that irresistible Icelandic accent. She released her debut album Dirty Paper Cup back in 2006, but she escaped my radar last time this blog was alive. So I sent my radar back to the manufacturer for repair, and now it seems to be working splendidly.

Album number two, Synchronised Swimmers, was released in Iceland around this time last year, and has, apparently, sold in rather large numbers. So yay for Hafdis!

Here are some of her best songs and videos, in descending order of excellence. That’s a posh way of saying my fave comes first. Enjoy!

Somebody?

Unbeknownst to me when I posted last week, Donkeyboy's hit Ambitions - the biggest selling single in Norway in 2009 - has been covered by UK X Factor winner Joe McElderry. Sacrilege! I'm almost tempted to start a campaign to get the original to beat him to #1 in the same way Rage Against The Machine beat him last Christmas. Is that very cruel of me?

It seems that, in a vague attempt to hide the fact it's a cover version, the song may be renamed Somebody. Simon Cowell's genius never ceases to amaze!

About to make some more Noise

The archive does not lie. It's been two and half years. But this blog will be coming to life again soon. The ambitions have not faded, as it were!