A breath of fresh air...

Any one who knows me will know that I predominantly despise most modern music.

My music taste typically tends to predate my presence on this planet and, as such, my Spotify contains a playlist devoted entirely to music of this millennia. Yet this makes up only around 30% of all of my songs. Most of this playlist only features an artist once or twice at6 most and I seldom follow an artist with great passion or interest. Yet I have two exceptions.

One is Christine and the Queens, the French singer whose song writing ability in 2 languages is beyond extraordinary. However, the second is a young Norwegian singer whose music and lyrics have created a new sub-genre of synth-pop. Oh and she's bilingual

  I first heard Sigrid's music when she appeared on BBC Breakfast, shortly after winning the corporation's Sound of 2018 award. What stood out from her track Strangers was the instant beat combined with synthesising. Most of my music on my 'Millennia' playlist features a powerful use of an instrument, be it a drum beat, bass or acoustic guitar. However, 'Strangers' accompanied the drum beat with a synthesiser without out-dating the song. Despite this hi-tech idea, Sigrid's voice then demonstrates her natural talent without the need for editing. Her vocal range was evident just from the opening verse to the chorus as she dreamily expressed her ideas through her lyrics.

This I thought, was something good, something different to the modern chart world where songs are edited, dubbed over, or even worse, don't involve any stretching of vocal chords and instead complain of the world we find ourselves in without suggesting an alternative approach. In other words, grime music and its incessant moaning.

For once, I was intrigued to find out more. Sigrid clearly had enough potential and other good songs otherwise she wouldn't have been dubbed the next great talent by numerous music journalists. I went on to YouTube and was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

I found her track 'Don't Kill My Vibe' and not only did her voice beam through once more, but her lyrics carried weight. A mass far greater than sounds to fill a bar or make a melody but words carefully chosen to make an impact. Words which resonated with me as though a Poet was attempting to convey their message to the masses in an anthology. Her words were specific enough to her that she sung with a passion and enthusiasm for the song but yet broad and enchanting to the masses who could relate to the Norwegian's feelings of being patronised or outmuscled. 'Plot Twist' was similar, a song of defiance in which Sigrid stands up for being herself and not being pushed around by others.

The rest of her debut EP continued in similar fashion, so much so, she became the first and to date one of only 2 artists, I follow on Spotify - no prizes for guessing the other one!

With 'Strangers' being her biggest hit, it was understandably her most played song on the radio for some time. All the while, Sigrid retreated home, back to
Ålesund on Norway's west coast and began writing a new EP. 'Raw' was far less synthesised than her previous EP and maybe reflected the more simple, laid back nature of Sigrid's surroundings. Instead across 5 new songs, Sigrid's ability as both a singer and a pianist began to shine almost as bright as Norway's sun during the Summer Solstice. Most notable were 'I Don't Want to Know' and 'Focus', both stripped back songs with lyrics reflecting Sigrid's true emotions, even if in Focus' case, the song was written years prior. Meanwhile, her final track of the EP - 'Schedules' - was incidentally released whilst I was in Scandinavia.

It quickly became a favourite, a happy, simple bop which introduced the synthesising back, though lightly and without excess.

By this point, my mind was already made up and I booked tickets for myself and 3 slightly begrudging friends to see her perform live. And this performance was not going to disappoint. 

What immediately stood out was her energy. Sigrid's happiness as well as enthusiasm as she opened the concert with her newest single shone through and the buoyant crowd reciprocated her  enthusiasm. She was also surrounded by her band on stage, all friends from Norway who contributed to a greater sense of comfort.

Maybe comfort isn't the right word, but as shown by her clothing and song lyrics, Sigrid's simplistic even slightly juvenile nature - she is only 22 after all- reflect her relaxed attitude of a singer who is happy to be writing songs and singing in front of people, but does not depend on it nor crave the attention.

As the concert continued, the crowd full of predominantly 25-34 year old hipster types and fellow teenagers expressed their enjoyment levels vociferously. Lyrics were recited, arms were raised aloft when applauding, and great appreciation was shown when Sigrid and her band broke from the lyric sheet to create guitar solos and appreciate the audience's support.

There were also unreleased songs, noticeably more melancholic as Sigrid admitted on stage she wanted to reflect some of the political climate into her singing. It was evident that Sigrid, like much of the wider world but contrary to the greater music industry, wasn't afraid of her opinions and hopes being shared. These unreleased tunes will surely form part of Sigrid's debut album, a slightly secret project for which there is no impending release date for. Bops such as 'Go to War' and 'In vain' certainly deserve a far wider audience.

Irrespective of when this album is released, Sigrid's popularity will continue to steadily grow and it's understandable as to why. For me, the music world has needed a breath of fresh air to offer something noticeably different to the current trends yet not so niche, that it's popularity is hindered by its own genre. Think The Lumineers who will forever be seen as the tambourine acoustics behind 'Ho Hey'. And right now, Sigrid is shaking up the music world for good.

As for Christine and the Queens, I was unable to get tickets for her performance so that article is on hold for now at least!