Results tagged “sweden”

Sweden is a country like no other. Somehow, its disparate raw ingredients, a few of which include a rich history of inclement weather, rule by Vikings, close-knit communities, and welfare states, have created some of the most affable, accomplished, and worldly people on the planet. Melding influences as varied as those that shaped his homeland, Emil Svanängen (under the pseudonym Loney Dear) creates some of the most beautiful and epically arresting music found anywhere on the globe. Like his fellow Scandinavian brethren Sigur Ros and fellow countryman Jose Gonzales, Loney Dear brings the world intricately crafted emotive music on a larger-than-life yet incredibly personal level.

     

That's what opener Anna Ternheim dubbed the Ternheim-Li-del Mar lineup at the Triple Door last night, the "Swedish girls tour." She was the solo singer/songwriter of the night, with a throaty, room-filling voice, a setlist stuffed with love and anti-love songs, and a guitar. (She also took over the grand piano.) "That one was about a girl who's a stalker," she mentioned off-handedly. "Any stalkers here tonight?" Her songs often ended surprisingly, in mid-flow. Twice she accompanied her iPod; a cover tune turned out to be Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies," slowed to dirge-speed.

Jens Lekman just makes us happy. Last night at Neumo's, the sweet Swede gave a joyful pop performance, not too different from his show last fall, except now his all-girl backing band is smaller--only four members, two of which (including opener, My Brightest Diamond's Marla Hansen) are actually from the States--and this time around everyone was in grey instead of white. The only other dude on stage, Viktor Per Sjöberg, mans the laptop and other effects, in order to slip in samples like the Chairmen of the Board's "Give Me Just a Little More Time" during "The Opposite of Hallelujah."