Lopez Blogs

Simon Does Sweden...

Ok people, we are gathered here today to discuss in full, the enigma that is the pop-factory of Sweden. I don’t know about you guys, but I am so perplexed and intrigued as to how such a cold, dark country tucked away in the arctic circle of Scandinavia can continuously churn out delectable gem after delectable, lighthearted gem of addictive, uplifting, pop glory. Not only do they make it seem to the outside world as though they live in some sugar-infused paradise, but they also give off the impression that Swedes are simply full-fledged, master sound engineers from birth! More on that in a minute…

I don’t think I am alone in making the assumption that ABBA paved the way and laid the foundations for Swedish pop as we know it today…I mean, any group that can come from a country with no prior world-wide musical superstars and go on to sell over 370 million albums is sure to leave just a bit of an impact. Think about it though, how many times have you listened to a current Swede-produced hit and thought, “wow, this totally could have been an ABBA song, wait…is this a cover?” I rest my case.

Then the early nineties brought us Ace of Base, who not only had the modern-day ABBA sound down pat, but also were a male/female quartet and even went so far as to use the letters A and B prominently in their band’s name. A few years later we had Aqua, the shortly thereafter the world met one of my favourite pop groups of all time, A*Teens. Even more impacting than the country’s offerings act-wise to the global music market were the Swedish producers who came into their prime during the nineties. Denniz Pop tore down the floodgates when he agreed to produce the Ace of Base song, Mr. Ace (which soon became known as a little ditty you all may know called All That She Wants). A year after that Mr. Pop recruited Martin Sandberg to be a part of his new production outfit, Cheiron Studios, a man who later gave himself the professional moniker, Max Martin.

Shortly after Denniz Pop’s tragic death, Max Martin (along with newfound partner, Rami) and Kristian Lundin ascended the throne of Sweden’s top power-producers, ushering in a true golden-age of pop music. This is the time when the world was treated to the best of the best that electronic pop could aspire to be. From Backstreet to *NSYNC to Britney, every tune released was a perfectly polished pop soundscape, timeless and truly unforgettable. Even the imitations were still leagues ahead of all the trash that’s on the radio today. Take A*Teens second album for example, Teen Spirit; it was almost a complete rip-off of the “Cheiron” sound, something for which it was very much lauded critically at the time of its release, but take that album now, and compare it to what you could go buy in stores today, and as far as production value goes, it is leaps and bounds better! Truly! Their signature producers, Tysper/Grizzly never achieved the kind of god-status they way their peers Max Martin and Kristian Lundin did, but in terms of sheer sound-crafting talent, they are right on up there. Have you ever heard A*Teens final release, I Promised Myself? Go download it immediately. Pure pop perfection.

These days acts like BWO, ex-A*Teen Marie Serneholt, Pet Shop Boys cover group, West End Girls, and most recently, girl duo Lucky Twice, are still at it; still championing the sound that ABBA forged and Cheiron perfected. Those who dismiss this music as frivolous are truly ignorant, for what on Earth is frivolous about a sound that continually strikes a chord (no pun intended) with millions upon millions of people across the globe? This is the only breed of music that consistently does so, and it all comes from a cold, dark, little northern corner of the world we all know as Sweden…

Now if only the damn record labels would wake up and remember what it was like to sell millions of records, and what kind of sound it was that made that happen… :P

Simon's recommended links:

BUY: ATeens Greatest Hits