When many people think of Scandipop, their instant reference is ABBA. However, Scandinavian and Nordic pop music have been continually moving forward since then. Scandipop has reached such a popularity level that Swedish music exports outperformed the UK last year. It’s outstanding progress for the genre’s broad tent that so much of it has gone worldwide while many of the songs are sung in their original language. After Linda Karlsson finished her football career, she turned to pop as Miss Li. She began singing many of her songs in English but switched to Swedish in her later career. Beyond her massive vocal abilities–which can soar above a wall of sound arrangement, swing through jazzy pop, command the stage with her distinct brand of cabaret pop, and articulate with the flow of a premier rapper–her music has been enhanced by switching to Swedish. The language’s sing-song quality naturally lends itself to pop music. In this year’s Livet, döden, skiten däremellan, she and her husband Sonny Gustafsson created the biggest and best Scandipop album of the year. Nearly every song is a single–seven to be precise: “X”, “Hälsa Gud”, “Ålderdomshemmet”, “Misstag”, “Maraton”, “Verktygslådan”, and “Småstadsdrömmar”, which began releasing in late 2022. They are hook-filled, dynamic, sing-a-long songs that sweep you up in pure joy. The record breezes by in 32 minutes with not a trace of fat. This year has been challenging, and 2025 scarcely looks to be an improvement. Miss Li is to the rescue, so get happy.
Tracklist:
1. 21 juli (0:43) 2. Den rastlösa själen (2:16) 3. Småstadsdrömmar (2:55) 4. Lilla Linda (0:24) 5. Revolt (2:20) 6. Duktiga flickan är död (0:09) 7. Misstag (3:11) 8. Mellan Avesta och Sala (0:38) 9. Verktygslådan (2:47) 10. X (2:41) 11. På Måndag (2:58) 12. Maraton (feat. Eah Jé) (2:20) 13. Svårt att tro (0:25) 14. Hälsa Gud (2:29) 15. Drömde (1:33) 16. Ålderdomshemmet (3:03) 17. Sista låten (feat. Pernilla August) (1:31)
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