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WHAT'S ON IN SWEDEN

MUSIC

Four fun music events to put a spring in your step

Sweden's spring concert calendar is jam packed. Here's our pick of this week's gigs alongside our regular interactive events guide.

Published: 7 April 2016 07:05 CEST
Four fun music events to put a spring in your step
Susanne Sundfør is headlining a festival in Umeå this weekend. Photo: Cornelius Poppe/Scanpix/TT
1. Umeå Open Festival
 
Northern Sweden's largest city is hosting a music and arts festival with a focus on anti-racism and feminism over the weekend, with artists selected for their musical and personal messages alongside their talents. Norwegian rising singer-songwriter star Susanne Sundfør is among the bigger names on the bill, while hardcore veteran Swedish punk band Refused is also expected to draw in the crowds. Tickets start at 295 kronor (around $36) for a daily pass and are available on Billetto.
 
 
2. Anna von Hausswolff and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
 
Singer-songwriter Anna von Haussswolff's 2010 album Singing from The Grave is already a Swedish classic thanks to the star's rich voice, distinctive organ sounds and poignant lyrics. The 29-year-old takes to the stage at Gothenburg's grand concert hall (Göteborgs Konserthus) on Saturday April 9th, performing alongside the city's symphony orchestra. Tickets cost 400 kronor ($49) with only a few left at the time of writing. Click here for tickets. 
 
 
3. Spring Ceilidh, Stockholm
 
Live music alongside “sometimes disorienting, often frantic, always fun” dancing is promised by the organizers of this Scottish dance gathering that's hoping to attract an international crowd in Sweden's capital. Music is pre-recorded, but there will be a live caller shouting out the dance moves. Those with Celtic roots are encouraged to bring their own kilts along, but the event is geared at beginners as well as veteran reelers. The dance takes place on Sunday April 10th for the bargain price of 80 kronor ($10). Click here for tickets.
 

Kilts are welcome but not compulsory at the gig. Photo: TT/AP
 
4. Tami T at the Queer Prom, Malmö
 
This Berlin-based artist loves to shock and while she is certainly not to everyone's taste, she is sure making an impact on the European electro scene. Her latest music video 'Despicable' shows her making out with herself, while a man with an enormous tattoo on his belly is the focus of her biggest song from last year, 'Strong Hands'. The artist is set to headine Malmö's Queer Prom this weekend, described by its organizers as “a night of dreams and chaos, glotter and sparkle, belly shots and kissing in photo booths”. The event takes place at new club Plan B. Tickets are available on Billetto and cost 120 kronor ($15).
 
 

 

 

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CULTURE

New songs mark sixth anniversary of French star Johnny Hallyday’s death

Fans of the late Johnny Hallyday, "the French Elvis Presley", will be able to commemorate the sixth anniversary of his death with two songs never released before.

Published: 17 November 2023 09:05 CET
New songs mark sixth anniversary of French star Johnny Hallyday's death

Hallyday, blessed with a powerful husky voice and seemingly boundless energy, died in December 2017, aged 74, of lung cancer after a long music and acting career.

After an estimated 110 million records sold during his lifetime – making him one of the world’s best-selling singers -Hallyday’s success has continued unabated beyond his death.

Almost half of his current listeners on Spotify are under the age of 35, according to the streaming service, and a posthumous greatest hits collection of “France’s favourite rock’n’roller”, whose real name was Jean-Philippe Leo
Smet, sold more than half a million copies.

The two new songs, Un cri (A cry) and Grave-moi le coeur (Engrave my heart), are featured on two albums published by different labels which also contain already-known hits in remastered or symphonic versions.

Un cri was written in 2017 by guitarist and producer Maxim Nucci – better known as Yodelice – who worked with Hallyday during the singer’s final years.

At the time Hallyday had just learned that his cancer had returned, and he “felt the need to make music outside the framework of an album,” Yodelice told reporters this week.

Hallyday recorded a demo version of the song, accompanied only by an acoustic blues guitar, but never brought it to full production.

Sensing the fans’ unbroken love for Hallyday, Yodelice decided to finish the job.

He separated the voice track from the guitar which he felt was too tame, and arranged a rockier, full-band accompaniment.

“It felt like I was playing with my buddy,” he said.

The second song, Grave-moi le coeur, is to be published in December under the artistic responsibility of another of the singer’s close collaborators, the arranger Yvan Cassar.

Hallyday recorded the song – a French version of Elvis’s Love Me Tender – with a view to performing it at a 1996 show in Las Vegas.

But in the end he did not play it live, opting instead for the original English-language version, and did not include it in any album.

“This may sound crazy, but the song was on a rehearsal tape that had never been digitalised,” Cassar told AFP.

The new songs are unlikely to be the last of new Hallyday tunes to delight fans, a source with knowledge of his work said. “There’s still a huge mass of recordings out there spanning his whole career,” the source said.

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