Sweden has put out some great, reliable, and, yes, often twee, pop music. And for some reason (accessibility?), most bands sing in English better than even the Dutch. Over the past 5 years, some of my favorite artists have come out of the land of the frozen bikini: David & the Citizens, Lasse Lindh, and Edson. I guess Edson, which was named for Pele’s birth name, is no longer a band? But Pelle Carlberg, the lead singer of Edson, is still recording. Everything. Now! was released in November on Swedish label Labrador and the single Riverbank is worth plugging into your dap if only to help you wake up.
Fellow labelmates Suburban Kids with Biblical Names (a moniker so dorky how could you not love them) are more often pop-oriented than Pelle, and as their name suggests, they’re more interested in finding music from artier sources. The duo claims to record in the hallways of their parents’ homes. They remind me of a lisping fusion of Talking Heads and Erasure. You can’t really go wrong there, can you? Decide for yourself: