Minns ni Love Generation som var med i Melodifestivalen 2011 och 2012? Klart ni gör! Nu är Melanie, Cornelia och Charly Q tillbaka under namnet Stockholm Syndrome och de har nyligen släppt en akustisk cover av Swedish House Mafia’s Don’t You Worry Child. Lyssna och njut här nedan!
In english. Love Generation is back as Stockholm Syndrome with an akustisc cover of Swedish House Mafia’s Don’t You Worry Child.
I’m publishing this on Monday, so you’ve heard all the cheers and recriminations at this point. I’m fine with Ranelid winning at Melodifestivalen, as much as I’m fine with anyone winning. Come one, come all – that’s what Eurovision is about these days, and so it should be at Melodifestivalen. Fortsätt läsa
Time for semi-final 1 in Germany, with no Eric Saade and a lot of crap. Fortsätt läsa
It feels like the first day of spring. Well, it’s the first time this year that no one seems to be wearing coats on the streets of London, at least. And inside a Soho bar, four members of Le Kid are about to have lunch with their manager.
Until Schlagerfiasko arrives.
In what has become a seasoned pastime, I’ve been stalking the band for this interview for some time, so after a bit of badgering, I’ve been given permission to stop them from eating.
Le Kid (all except Anton, who has stayed at home for family reasons) is in London on various missions. In no order of importance, these are: to eat sushi; to see Sophie Ellis-Bextor at G.A.Y.; to meet record companies; to visit the British Museum; to get rid of Schlagerfiasko quickly so they can have lunch in peace. I empathise with all these goals.
The five-piece group is made up of Felix Persson, Märta Grauers and Anton Malmberg Hård af Segersted – all songwriters and musicians, who are joined by lead singers Helena Lillberg and Johanna Berglund. Between them, they’ve worked with the likes of Agnes, BWO, Alcazar, Velvet, Eric Saade and Malena Ernman, among many others. So it’s fair to say that they know what they’re doing when it comes to pop.
Debut single Mercy Mercy was released to acclaim throughout Europe in 2009, and after plenty of time in the studio, the debut album, Oh Alright!, is in the can, and waiting to be released at the start of June.
Before then, of course, there’s the aftermath of Melodifestivalen to pick over. At least, that’s what I’m making them do…
You entered the Melodifestivalen bubble for the first time this year with Oh My God, and came fifth in your heat. How do you feel about that in retrospect?
Felix: Well, I think the Melodifestivalen voting public isn’t necessarily the same as the general music-buying public – in fact, the voters are probably a small segment of that. I think it’s hard to compare the popularity of someone like Sanna Nielsen with Love Generation based on Melodifestivalen results. I’m not criticising Sanna in any way, but with Love Generation there was the whole RedOne thing, and even that didn’t succeed in the competition. You know, Le Kid is like really spicy food – the first time you have a taste, you don’t like us – but give it a year, and you want ever be able to eat that bland old thing again. We’re whisky and modern art! So the result doesn’t matter.
Johanna: We’re sushi!
And how was the experience of the actual competition itself?
Helena: Luleå was cold.
Johanna: As soon as we went into the schlagerbubble, people were asking us who our biggest competitors were. But we just wanted to make it the best Le Kid gig ever – we wanted to have fun. That sounds like a cliché, but for us, we were performing to show everyone what we’re about.
Märta: It was hard to see the other competitors as our ‘enemies’, because everyone was doing something different.
Johanna: Yes, everyone was friendly. There was no rivalry at all.
Felix: Look, you have a choice. You can buy into all that perceived rivalry and enter into the competition like you’re a football player, and do everything you can to make it as likely as possible that you’ll go through to the final. That isn’t always the best thing to do, of course. But we sat down and decided we wouldn’t do anything like that. We could either make it popular or good. And we wanted to do a fantastic performance. When you decide that, you have to leave the competition thing alone, because you can’t do both.
Despite that, did you have any hopes of winning?
Märta: Of course. But we didn’t want to win the whole thing. We certainly didn’t want to go to the Eurovision Song Contest.
Helena: No, that wasn’t the goal at all.
Johanna: We wanted to reach the biggest audience possible. If we’d gone through to the final, perhaps more people would have seen us, and we could have gained more fans. But the contest part of it wasn’t important in itself.
Helena: The final would have been great, though…
Felix: Going to Eurovision would have been too much, even just thinking about all the preparation to perform there. It’s not that beneficial for our careers to represent Sweden at Eurovision – it would have been a bad move, in fact. If we had gone to the Melodifestivalen final, we would have wanted to win that, of course.
That’s interesting, because Loreen said the opposite – she was all set to do a full show in Düsseldorf if she’d won…
Helena: Loreen is amazing, I have her song on all the time!
Felix: Sure, we’d have done the same. But with all due respect, there are artists that live in the schlagerbubble all year round – singers like Sanna Nielsen and Nanne Grönvall. They’re great, but we’re not them. For Melodifestivalen, we just wanted to pop in, say “Hi!”, and get out again. And that’s not being rude, it’s just the way that Le Kid is.
Johanna: Yes, it wasn’t about Eurovision. We wanted to meet Sweden, and Melodifestivalen is the only real way to do that. It wasn’t a hard decision to enter.
Felix: And it was amazing fun.
Johanna: It was also a shock. We went in there thinking that we could make it all as ‘Le Kiddish’ as possible. But we quickly realised that we could also be killed by the media. That actually didn’t happen. We realised afterwards that we’d got so much positive press. We weren’t reading it at the time, though.
Helena: No, our PR made a deal with us that we wouldn’t read anything while it was all going on. It was such a great surprise afterwards that people who love pop music loved us! That gave us some real credibility.
Felix: There were a couple of mean stories, but in general everyone was really nice. We could have got so much more press if we wanted, though. That’s the weird deal about it all. We did some really good interviews, saying some fun things, but they didn’t make it into the papers – the reason being that we didn’t diss anyone, we didn’t complain about our hotel, or cause any scandals.
Märta: And we weren’t obsessed with the competition, we just talked about everyone else and what we’ve been doing ourselves.
Felix: Yes, that was the deal. We refused to be negative. But if you’re not negative, then you don’t make the papers.
Johanna: But that’s just us – we’re not like that. We have to be ourselves, so we got on the carousel, said hello, and got off. We did that and it went well.
Felix: It was weird doing interviews knowing that they were really good, but would never be published just because we weren’t being scandalous – just interesting. That wasn’t enough. Weird.
Johanna: We did have some fun, tough. We did an interview and just mentioned that Felix had lost something. Then they asked us about what was the worst thing that has ever happened to us, so I said that it was when Felix has lost a prosthetic! And later on, Felix said the same to someone else. So this rumour started, and everyone was asking us if it was true!
Felix: We’d pretend to be really uncomfortable if they asked us about it.
Helena: So they’d be thinking they’d offended us, and apologise for asking the question!
Felix: We heard rumours in the production team that people thought we’d lost my arm.
Helena: So Felix walked around with a stiff arm!
You’re very naughty. And hilarious. (I can confirm there was nothing stiff about Felix because I was sitting next to him.) Would you go through this experience again?
Märta: No way! Or if we did, I’d want to do it in a different country…
Helena: Azerbaijan!
Märta: Or Liechtenstein!
Felix: If we were to do it again, I think it’s likely that we wouldn’t do it in Sweden, just for the fun of it. It’d be fun to represent the Netherlands and beat Sweden in some place like Helsingborg…
Coming up in part two, the group discuss the new album, and what it’s like to be popular overseas…
Photo: Le Kid
I wish I’d never watched The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I’m stood in the same underpass where Lisbeth Salander hurried home, and might actually be the most sinister place in Stockholm. It also happens to be where the entrance to Kolingsborg club is located, and I’m here as dusk settles in. Strangely enough, it seems a lot less threatening at night, when more people are around.
I’m lurking about waiting to be let in well before the punters arrive for the annual post-Melodifestivalen party at Paradise, because Jenny Silver is about to do her soundcheck. I’ve been playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Jenny for some time, and I remind her of this when she settles down on the sofa in the back room.
“Yes, I know you!” she says, with a smile.
I can’t deny that I’m thrilled.
Jenny has had the most varied of careers in music. From dansband queen to rock chick, then popping off into musicals and flirting with funk. And all that was before the silver-clad (of course) electro diva arrived to confound expectations in last year’s Melodifestivalen.
Now she’s back, reinvented yet again as the darling of schlager after her performance of Something In Your Eyes. A firm favourite of the Eurovision crowd, the song went to andra chansen, where it had the unfortunate fate of being up against Love Generation’s Dance Alone. Then there was that voting fiasco, from which the dust is only just settling as we meet…
“Obviously, I would have preferred to be in the final,” she sighs, as I start off by asking her about the week before. “It’s okay, though. When it comes to music, it’s very hard to tell what’s going to happen with anything. This isn’t sports, or any form of exact science. You can never tell who the winner is going to be.
“Everything fell apart for a while with the voting,” Jenny continues. “There was so much confusion – everyone felt that. But, you know, things like that can happen. Melodifestivalen is a live show. Perhaps this is an indication that the voting system should be looked at, though…”
If Jenny sounds disappointed, however, it isn’t apparent from her demeanour. As she relaxes with a glass of water, she’s suddenly more animated when I discuss how popular Something In Your Eyes has been outside Sweden.
“I noticed!” she laughs. “It’s done really well. It would have been more fun to take the song to the final with all the international juries, wouldn’t it?”
You can’t deny Jenny has a point.
“But it’s a big enough reward to read all the comments on my Facebook page,” she adds. “I really love that.”
Jenny also loves her changes of image. No other artist has managed to pull off such different styles within the space of 12 months like Jenny has. Does this mean that in the future we shouldn’t expect to hear anything like A Place To Stay, with its…
“…Minimalistic electro,” says Jenny, finding the words for me. “I really loved that song – it was so different, wasn’t it?”
It certainly was. But while it was one of the highlights of 2010, it was most definitely not a Melodifestivalen song.
“No,” agrees Jenny. “Perhaps the show was a bit too… special. Maybe we went over peoples’ heads. Maybe we went over our own heads! It is a competition, after all. You have three minutes to present the song, so sometimes it’s easy to complicate things from a visual perspective.”
You certainly couldn’t say the same for Something In Your Eyes. What you see is what you get!
“It’s schlager all the way!” Jenny laughs. “I heard the song around September last year. I’m not sure if it had been sent to Melodifestivalen for consideration, but I loved it immediately. It was a bit of a surprise to be performing that song, but that’s what I love about music overall. If there’s something there you can connect to, then it’s great. For me, it doesn’t matter what style the music is. There’s a core in all types of music, and if that speaks to me, then I’m willing to give it a go.”
That is definitely Jenny’s guiding principle. Has she been listening to ABBA, as a lot of people suspect?
“This is a new direction,” she says. “Is it disco? Is it ABBA? I’m not sure. Something In Your Eyes is updated ABBA techno! And there are definitely references to ABBA there, in the harmonies especially. I love pop music. I grew up with pop in the eighties, and I absolutely love doing dance music. So this is what I’m looking for.”
So, an album full of ABBA techno. I like the sound of that…
“Actually, I’m concentrating on just releasing singles for now,” replies Jenny. “Just like they did in the old days. These days, it’s all about songs. When you have a handful of great songs, you can then put them together in an album. That gives you freedom as an artist, because you can change direction whenever you want. Traditionally, at least, you have to have the same feel or sound. But I prefer the thought of just working with individual songs. It’s a much better thing, and it’ll also produce better albums later on.”
So does Jenny have a particular song in mind to release next?
“No, I’ve no idea!” she smiles. “I’ve got lots of demos, but haven’t decided on the next single yet. Of course, I like electro, but I think whatever it is, it’s going to be something in between A Place To Stay and Something In Your Eyes – danceable electro-pop!”
We talk for a while about what Jenny’s listening to right now, and she tells me about the French-Canadian electro-funk pair Chromeo – most decidedly not schlager, the last time I listened to them!
“Totally not!” agrees Jenny. “But I love them. I’m also listening to some old stuff, like Daft Punk. I asked my dancers to make me a playlist of their favourite stuff to see if there’s anything I could be inspired by there.
“You know, I’m also working with a new computer programme so I can take the studio on the road with me between Gothenburg and Stockholm,” she adds. “So I’ve been working with that to see what comes out of it. All this is a really inspiring environment for me right now.”
As we’ve been talking, Dilba has been on the stage below us getting her levels right on Try Again for the performance later that evening, and as she’s ushered out (hang on, Dilba! Don’t go!), it’s time for Jenny to go downstairs. Before she goes, though, she’s got a question for me.
“It’s been a really pleasant surprise to have people outside Sweden like what I’m doing – why do you think that is?”
I answer that I think we’re all loving the transformation from last year’s number – which many us loved, despite knowing that it didn’t really fit into the Melodifestivalen contest – to the schlager we’ve got now. It’s been a shock, but a marvellous shock.
“I like that,” says Jenny. “I like giving pleasant surprises. There’s nothing more boring than being predictable. As long as I carry on putting good things out there, that’s what I do.”
Just before I leave, Jenny goes on stage, and as I stand on the balcony, I get my own private performance (almost) of Something In Your Eyes. Jenny looks up and smiles.
I’m thrilled.
Photo: Janerik Henriksson / Scanpix
Yes, it was a schlagerfiasko. Jenny out. Loreen out. Linda out. Shirley’s Angels out. And then Love Generation out. A sorry, sorry evening for schlager and pop fans who wanted to see those songs in the final.
And then there was the glimmer of hope that the problems with the voting could have meant the wrong results were delivered. But no. The same outcomes stood.
I’m not going to pore over the results or the events, because you’ll have seen them for yourself, and come to your own conclusions.
So, what does it all mean for Schlagerfiasko? Well, it doesn’t mean much, really.
There’s Saturday’s final, which will be much less schlager – and feminine – than we would like. But there’s the prospect of a hot pop battle between Danny’s Club (on first) and Eric’s Popularity (on last) to look forward to. Sort of.
Then there’s the sport of seeing who will reign supreme at the top of the iTunes chart. As I write this, neither Danny nor Eric are there (three and four respectively), because Loreen is sitting pretty instead. Just like Dilba did after her ‘failure’ at Luleå.
Not far behind her is Sara Varga, while The Moniker is at number five. So the two songs that went through are obviously popular – as you would expect. They are what people wanted to hear. That’s it.
It also proves that Melodifestivalen is as relevant to the music-buying public as ever before, regardless of how anyone may think otherwise. That’s it. Loreen is adored. Jenny has shown a brand-new side to her range. Shirley’s Angels are eager to get in the studio. Linda Pritchard is stronger than ever before.
I’ve had a couple of interesting conversations during the week about the online reaction to Melodifestivalen results outside Sweden, particularly with reference to the essay (it didn’t start off like that, apologies) I published after the fourth heat. It’s interesting that overseas fans are quick to assume ‘mass movements’ that are against schlager, or that the voting public are deciding, en masse, to send a ‘winner’ to Eurovision.
To assume such things is to be very naive about the concept of Melodifestivalen, which is to celebrate Swedish music in all its forms. Read the aforementioned post for more of my thoughts on that, then let’s all move on.
I’m still looking forward to the schlagercirkus to come – it’s Melodifestivalen! Nu kör vi!
I’m sorry for the lack of schlager. Unfortunately, I’ve been ill and had to take time out. But I’m recovering slowly.
While I’ve been ill, however, I’ve discovered an amazing service from Sweden called Digster. And you need to know about it.
Essentially, it’s a site dealing in playlists, linking them through Spotify. A simple idea, of course, but a good one, too. And the Digster crowd seem to be big schlagerfans…
Melodifestivalen playlist? No problem. Love Generation’s picks? Varsågod. Alcazar’s? Darin’s? Linda Pritchard’s? Ja, ja och ja.
Basically, Digster is a really handy tool for finding the music you want without spending ages trawling through lists. And it works.
Bra.
