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Recent(?) Finnish pop(?) music recs
8 Nov 2021 02:55 pmI downloaded Shazam to identify the songs that I hate the most and like the most on the store's soundtrack. Wax was laughing at me because when I showed the ones I liked to her she was like "Okay I guess we're learning about the state of Finnish pop" (we don't quite get enough radio in our limited grocery runs to have kept up with this). (The ones I hate the most are a couple of American pop-country songs I haven't captured yet and Bruno Mars and "OneRepublic" - really? Without a space?)
Anyway, here are a couple of recs.
Behm is a recent singer-songwriter phemenon here whose popularity made Wax curious about the song. And I love this song Tivolit, my absolute favorite on this list, although I am kind of annoyed that I can't figure out what it's about even after reading the lyrics through several times (Wax didn't get it either). This metaphor is out there, but whatever. Wax wanted to compare her to Adele on the basis of this song. I glanced at a couple of her other singles, but I haven't really checked her out yet to test the idea. She's still at the beginning of her career, though.
Erin's Yhtena Sunnuntaina is from 2020 and is definitely one of my favorites here. She's a gifted singer and songwriter and has had plenty of past major hits as a solo artist and as one half of Finnish duo Nylon Beat. This song is more of a sentimental ballad than a lot of her other stuff, but I'm a sucker for the bridge and the chords in the chorus.
Labyrintti by Jenni Vartiainen, an uptempo dance hit from 2019. I have the 2010 album with her first #1-debut single, En haluu kuolla tänä yönä.
Suvi Teräsniska has possibly the coolest name I've ever encountered. It means "Summer Steelneck". Wax says she is mainly a humppa (the Finnish equiv. of country - that is, modern traditional) singer but sort of on the border with pop. I enjoy Matkalla Tuntemattomaan and the cover Rakkaus on Lumivalkoinen, which is and sounds like a folk ballad (but a cool minor-key folk ballad, very traditional for Finnish music, which is why I like it so much). I really like her voice.
Ida Paul & Kalle Lindroth are a Finnish pop songwriting-performing duo formed in 2016 who Wax says "are selling out a bunch of shows recently" here in Finland. They met at a songwriting workshop, which is cool. I really enjoy Päiväuni and Vuonna Nolla. All their music has the same sweet, hopeful kind of mood (or wistful/hopeful and nostalgic/triumphant respectively, for these two) and it all sounds pretty similar to this, but mostly less catchy than these two, which are both jams.
J. Karjalainen's Sekaisin is from 1992. It sounds more retro than that to me, partly because of his distinctive singing style. Anyway, because of his distinctive style, all his music sounds pretty similar to this. I've been enjoying this one when it pops up on the store playlist recently.
Keko Salata's Todennäköisyys. Wax says he's a Finnish hip hop artist. I like the hook in this one.
Mikael Gabriel is also a hip hop artist according to Wax, but again it seems more like a flavor to a pop song with a definite pop hook and chorus to my possibly ignorant ear. This song Oli Aikoi also has a pretty great music video.
Sinun by Mika Ikonen is a sentimental love ballad (and Wax says sort of approaching humppa again), but it has a melodramatic and almost melancholic feel to the music and instrumentation. Those larger-than-life noisy scenery-chewing minor chords make it kind of a banger.
Lauri Tähkä is a big star and has a long career, and he also has a really distinct sound that goes through all his music. This song Morsian is from 2016. Besides the great beat, I like the self-consciously nostalgic retro feel of this one, which saves it from simple sentimentality (though I would excuse simple sentimentality with this beat anyway).
Anyway, here are a couple of recs.
Behm is a recent singer-songwriter phemenon here whose popularity made Wax curious about the song. And I love this song Tivolit, my absolute favorite on this list, although I am kind of annoyed that I can't figure out what it's about even after reading the lyrics through several times (Wax didn't get it either). This metaphor is out there, but whatever. Wax wanted to compare her to Adele on the basis of this song. I glanced at a couple of her other singles, but I haven't really checked her out yet to test the idea. She's still at the beginning of her career, though.
Erin's Yhtena Sunnuntaina is from 2020 and is definitely one of my favorites here. She's a gifted singer and songwriter and has had plenty of past major hits as a solo artist and as one half of Finnish duo Nylon Beat. This song is more of a sentimental ballad than a lot of her other stuff, but I'm a sucker for the bridge and the chords in the chorus.
Labyrintti by Jenni Vartiainen, an uptempo dance hit from 2019. I have the 2010 album with her first #1-debut single, En haluu kuolla tänä yönä.
Suvi Teräsniska has possibly the coolest name I've ever encountered. It means "Summer Steelneck". Wax says she is mainly a humppa (the Finnish equiv. of country - that is, modern traditional) singer but sort of on the border with pop. I enjoy Matkalla Tuntemattomaan and the cover Rakkaus on Lumivalkoinen, which is and sounds like a folk ballad (but a cool minor-key folk ballad, very traditional for Finnish music, which is why I like it so much). I really like her voice.
Ida Paul & Kalle Lindroth are a Finnish pop songwriting-performing duo formed in 2016 who Wax says "are selling out a bunch of shows recently" here in Finland. They met at a songwriting workshop, which is cool. I really enjoy Päiväuni and Vuonna Nolla. All their music has the same sweet, hopeful kind of mood (or wistful/hopeful and nostalgic/triumphant respectively, for these two) and it all sounds pretty similar to this, but mostly less catchy than these two, which are both jams.
J. Karjalainen's Sekaisin is from 1992. It sounds more retro than that to me, partly because of his distinctive singing style. Anyway, because of his distinctive style, all his music sounds pretty similar to this. I've been enjoying this one when it pops up on the store playlist recently.
Keko Salata's Todennäköisyys. Wax says he's a Finnish hip hop artist. I like the hook in this one.
Mikael Gabriel is also a hip hop artist according to Wax, but again it seems more like a flavor to a pop song with a definite pop hook and chorus to my possibly ignorant ear. This song Oli Aikoi also has a pretty great music video.
Sinun by Mika Ikonen is a sentimental love ballad (and Wax says sort of approaching humppa again), but it has a melodramatic and almost melancholic feel to the music and instrumentation. Those larger-than-life noisy scenery-chewing minor chords make it kind of a banger.
Lauri Tähkä is a big star and has a long career, and he also has a really distinct sound that goes through all his music. This song Morsian is from 2016. Besides the great beat, I like the self-consciously nostalgic retro feel of this one, which saves it from simple sentimentality (though I would excuse simple sentimentality with this beat anyway).
