Stina Nordenstam

It was back in 1996 that a friend of mine, a huge extreme metal fan, told me he was really into Stina Nordenstam. He suggested I listen to her latest album Dynamite. Knowing his tastes, I wasn't too sure what to expect. Surely enough this wasn't even close to the surprise sludge metal album I might have expected. Stina's voice was very girlish and innocent, but the music wasn't. A dark and brooding atmosphere was lurking behind the lazy voice. Like a more bright-eyed Mazzy Star on quaaludes. This album got me interested in her and I was soon to find out there isn't really one album that sounds like the next, but her voice remains unmistakable. Her earliest efforts are on the jazzier side of the scale, her later albums often switched from pop to shoe-gazing music and back again with varying degrees of intensity. The presence of the song Little Star on the Baz Luhrmann directed hit movie Romeo + Juliet (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) helped shedding light on this otherwise obscure pop diva.

Dynamite Label: Telegram Records Stockholm Release: 1996 Format: CD Cat. no: 0630-15605-2
Song list:
Under Your Command (5:19) Dynamite (4:25) Almost A Smile (4:53) Mary Bell (4:54) The Man With The Gun (4:12) Until (3:41) This Time, John (3:25) CQD (5:40) Down Desire Avenue (5:04) Now That You're Leaving (3:28)

The World Is Saved Label: V2 Music Scandinavia AB Release: 2004 Format: CD Cat. no: VVR1027942
Song list:
Get On With Your Life (3:28) Winter Killing (4:02) On Falling (4:09) Parliament Square (4:35) I'm Staring Out The World (3:38) From Cayman Islands With Love (3:58) The Morning Belongs To The Night (3:33) 125 (3:41) Butterfly (4:20) The World Is Saved (2:53) The End Of A Love Affair (3:37)