The pod’s guest for this episode is Swedish singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, director, water-colour painter, mother - both in the parental sense and the meme sense - ionnalee (Jonna Lee).  With a career spanning over two decades and 9 studio albums, Jonna previously joined Chris and Doron for an interview in season 1 of Melody A.M. to discuss iamamiwhoami’s 2022 record, Be Here Soon. In the autumn, Jonna put out two new albums, Close Your Eyes, and its Swedish language...

This episode’s guest is Oslo-based creator, Live Sollid Schullerud, who produces progressive electro-pop under the act name, Mörmaid. Whilst Live is now associated with futuristic electronica, her musical roots lie in a very different genre: jazz. Before evolving into Mörmaid, she spent years as a jazz musician, an experience that Melody A.M. reckons continues to influence her work in subtle but significant ways, particularly in her attention to rhythm and melodic complexity. Live’s first...

Dino Medanhodzic is one of Sweden’s leading songwriters and producers: he’s a record maker and he’s a record breaker. Growing up in Arboga, a small town situated an hour and a half’s train journey westward from Stockholm, Dino started out as a guitarist in Death Metal bands at the age of 17. Not necessarily where you’d guess that the guy who has made pop history as the songwriter with the most Melodifestivalen entries-that-have-gone-directly-to-the-final-in-a-row would have begun his...

Clever-pop is Norwegian singer-songwriter Sandra Kolstad’s craft. And that is not to say that her music isn't easily accessible or that there's any pretentiousness to it. Far from it! It’s just that her songs have a distinct… otherness, possibly as a result of the experiences Kolstad draws on from her other artistic occupations (including being a novelist, actor and composter). Kolstad started off as a pianist, training with Norwegian composer, Wolfgang Plagge, but the wild Berlin scene...

Klemens Hannigan is one of the founders of and driving forces behind the beloved Icelandic band, Hatari. Earlier this year, he brought out his debut solo album, Low Light, where he has embraced quite a different sound and aesthetic to his band’s signature style.   In his solo work there’s vulnerability, finesse and elegance that he and his Hatari compatriots have often actively shied away from with their focus on industrial, techno punk-rock.   Based in Reykjavik, Hannigan is also a fine...

Hailing from Värmland, a county to the west of Sweden,  singer-songwriter, Johanna Jansson - better known as Dotter - celebrates a whole decade in the music industry this year. And she does so with close to 110,000,000 streams under her belt (on Spotify alone!). A hit factory? Yep, you could say that. Starting her professional music journey with more of an Indie and, at times, folk-acoustic flavour, Dotter’s sound has changed and added layers over the years. So much so that, by the time...

Tove Styrke first burst onto the scene back in 2009, as a contestant on the Swedish television programme, Idol. Alongside Loreen, Tove is possibly one of the biggest alumni from that talent show in terms of international success. And what’s really interesting about the then-teenager Tove, who went on to sign a record deal and work on her debut album that same year, is that she wasn’t just a mouthpiece for a team of songwriters. Bringing her own song ideas to the studio, Tove wrote or co-wrote...

For the finale of Season 2, Melody A.M. makes a return visit to Norway, with an episode dedicated to singer-songwriter, Vårin Strand, who releases her music under the name Vaarin. Vaarin hails from Hokksund, a small town about an hour’s drive from Oslo, and she first started writing songs in her early teens. There was a lot of jazz and folk music playing in her home when she was growing up and, while this musical background fed into the sound of her debut album, which came out in 2018,...

Faroese artist, Heiðrik, released his debut album, An Invisible Gun, back in 2007. This was the year Patrick Wolf released The Magic Position and it’s striking how these two albums share a very similar Folktronic soundscape, which - listening to them with today’s ears - makes them come across as sibling records. Not unlike Patrick Wolf, Heiðrik's artistic talents span across many different genres and mediums.    Musically, he collaborates with a variety of Nordic artists including Helena...

Elias Kapari has been making music for over two decades - in the early days he had his own bands and he subsequently got involved in production and writing for other artists, working with some of the biggest names in the Swedish music industry including: Icona Pop, Molly Sandén, Linda Sundblad, Veronica Maggio, Oskar Linnros, Ana Diaz, Maja Francis, Cherrie, Victor Leksell, Charlotte Perrelli and previous Melody A.M. guest, Stefan Storm from The Sound of Arrows.   One of the defining...

This episode brings Melody A.M.’s attention back to Norway with singer-songwriter, Ane Brun, who this year celebrates a very special anniversary: 20 years since the release of her debut album, Spending Time With Morgan.  To mark the occasion, Brun has recently released a new retrospective record, Songs 2013-2023, highlighting peak points from her studio recordings in the past 10 years, as well as another collection, Portrayals, which collates some of the best-loved cover versions she has...

Melody A.M. is sticking around in Sweden for this latest episode, with guests Anna Levander and Leopold Nilsson, who make up the Swedish duo, Dolce. Part of the uniqueness of Dolce’s sound is perhaps due to the fact that the production and arrangements hark back to much older Swedish folk music. The more decisive element at play, though, is Anna Levander’s voice. It’s something else. It’s deep, it’s warm, it grabs you and it makes you pay attention. Underpinning that voice are melodies that...

We’re heading back to Sweden on this, the 7th episode of season 2, with a musician who is so good and so charming that we can’t wait for you to hear our interview. Alma Caroline Cederlöf, who goes by the nom de plume GRANT, is already a big, big name in her homeland - so much so that her latest album, Truth & Consequences, was recently shortlisted for the Alternative Pop of the Year award at this year’s Swedish Grammis.    A Stockholmer through and through, the majority of GRANT’s...

The Eurovision Song Contest has been held annually since 1956 – with the only exception being 2020, when the competition had to be cancelled due to coronavirus. It has been the longest-running yearly international music competition on TV and one of the world's longest-running TV programmes overall. Since 1956 there have been 13 victories by Nordic countries at Eurovision. Well, this episode was recorded prior to the 2023 contest so, who knows, this number may well go up!   The biggest...

Norwegian trio, KEiiNO, has been making Northern Lights-style waves in the world of pop since winning Norway’s pre-Eurovision selection competition, Melodi Grand Prix, and subsequently representing their country at the song contest in 2019.   Fred Buljo, Alexandra Rotan and Tom Hugo wowed audiences around the world with their entry, "Spirit in the Sky”, and the song has brought them a loyal fanbase, which – in turn – means that they’ve had plenty of exciting opportunities to tour around...

With a frenetic twist on electronic pop, ALMA has over the past 7 years become one of the most exciting pop artists in the world.   ALMA first rose to fame a decade ago when she took part in the Finnish version of the popular singing competition, IDOLS. Her powerful voice and energetic stage presence quickly caught the attentions of the judges and audiences alike and she went on to place fifth in the competition. Her enviable career trajectory following the show, however, shows that it’s...

Ásgeir became a huge star in Iceland just as he was turning 20 years old. His debut album, which came out in 2012, ended up being the fastest-selling debut album in Icelandic history. We’re talking even more successful than Björk!   Originally performed in Icelandic, the songs were subsequently translated into English with the help of John Grant, and released internationally under the title In the Silence. The leading single from it, “King & Cross”, has - to date - had just under 60...

For fans of cutting edge pop music, there is currently one particularly exciting Norwegian record label making a real impact. It’s called GEMS and this episode of Melody A.M. is dedicated to one of its key signings, DØSSI. Being raised near the fjords on the West coast of Norway, Ingrid Døssland grew up on 90s pop - Shaggy’s ‘Mr Boombastic’ and the music of the Spice Girls being just a couple of examples of her early childhood inspirations. Her own music is something completely different,...

This, the first episode of Season 2 of Melody A.M., is dedicated to Icelandic musician, Emilíana Torrini, who began her music career in the mid-1990s, contributing vocals to the debut album by Icelandic band, Spoon. She went on to release her own debut, a covers album, in 1995. Having subsequently moved to London, she signed a record deal with One Little Indian, home to the likes of Björk, Chumbawamba, Skunk Anansie, Sneaker Pimps and the Sugarcubes. In 1999 she released her breakthrough...

Even if you don’t know his name, there can hardly be a human alive who hasn’t heard at least half a dozen songs by Max Martin, who’s done more to shape today’s pop music landscape than almost anyone else. He’s launched the careers of legends, and been the go-to guy for anybody whose career needed a surefire hit. Born in Stockholm, he learnt the skills of the trade under Denniz Pop, one of the most successful songwriters and producers of the ‘90s, and quickly became his own pop powerhouse....

After persistently pursuing Britney and Madonna collaborator, Guy Sigsworth, to work with her, Norwegian singer-songwriter, film & tv score composer and multi-instrumentalist, Kate Havnevik, produced one of the most spectacular debut albums with 2006’s Melankton. As a simplistic soundscape comparison point, think Björk’s 'Jóga'. And then some. She has since gone on to become one of the most successful synch artists, with no less than ten of her songs being used on American television...

Boy bands are a cultural phenomenon. Whether they’re slowly rising from stools or wanting it that way, they are an inescapable force of nature within pop music.  And Oscar Enestad knows better than most, having cut his teeth in one of Sweden’s biggest ever boy bands, FO&O, who won hearts - and awards - before going their separate ways in 2017. The three main members (a fourth left the band) have all gone on to big things: Omar Rudberg has a pop career and stars in Netflix’s huge hit,...

Swedish singer-songwriter, producer and filmmaker Jonna Lee started her music career as a fairly unassuming folk musician. Her big international breakthrough came when, in 2009, a series of mysterious videos started appearing on YouTube - and quickly went viral. Speculation as to their creator was rife - was it Christina Aguilera? Could it be Goldfrapp? - but it eventually turned out to be iamamiwhoami, Jonna’s electronic music and audiovisual project in collaboration with Claes...

Danish band Efterklang formed in Copenhagen in late 2000 and have been bewitching audiences with their blend of atmospheric pop and lush orchestral rock ever since. No strangers to worldwide critical acclaim, as well as commercial success in their native Denmark, their career has seen them form their own record label, start several side projects, as well as travel to an abandoned Russian settlement near the North Pole to record sounds in and around the decaying industrial sites. In 2021 the...