Swedish pop music is currently the best in the world with bands like Miike Snow and Niki and the Dove being so hot they make Nordic bearable, and London is its sofa-surfing home.
Our friends at the brilliant Ja Ja Ja blog and club night have been leading the wave by enthusing about not only Swedish but all Nordic music for years, and it’s finally paying off as Miike Snow and Niki and The Dove play the monstrous Brixton Academy on 31 May.
Miike Snow’s latest single Paddling Out continues to qualify them as an icily slick Animal Collective with looping pianos and attacking dischord,while the Lykke Li featuring Black Tin Box is an echoing aurora of building electronica and tribal pounding: Forthcoming album Happy To You will be magnificent.
Support comes from the truly wonderful Niki and the Dove who will be no doubt headlining the same venue in their own right later in the year after being top of everyone’s ones to watch lists. Their single, rhythmic DJ Ease My Mind (out 26 February), is receiving well deserved airplay across the radio by sounding like a cool version of a World Cup theme, while retaining The Knife's edginess.
Across town The Cribs will be headlining The Troxy on 8 May supporting their new record In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull, which was party recorded in Abbey Road Studios. This Troxy show puts The Cribs on par with the likes of The Pixies, New Order, Nick Cave and PJ Harvey by being added to the exclusive roster of bands playing arguably London’s best venue.
The recently engaged Katie Melua will take a break from counting bicycles in Beijing to play Hammersmith Apollo on 10 October in support of her fifth album Secret Symphony. She is also set to play Hampden Court Palace on 22 June.
Tickets for Miike Snow and The Cribs go on sale Friday 17 February 2012 at 9am through gigsandtours.com. Miike Snow @ Brixton Academy £16 +bf and The Cribs @ The Troxy £20+bf. Katie Melua @ Hammersmith Apollo available now £37.50+bf
