MØ
Mø’s journey from teenage punk playing at squat raves around Europe to major label-signed popstar has been one of the more curious narratives in music over the last few years. After releasing an album of heavy, rough-edged art pop called No Mythologies To Follow in 2014, her career pivoted around one song, the monster hit Major Lazer collab Lean On. Now firmly on the breezy, tropical pop path, she released her long-awaited follow-up album Forever Neverland at the end of October and comes to Stockholm in November.

Mø, Annexet, Nov 28

HIGHASAKITE

Norwegians Highasakite were always pop, but always a band. Now, pared down to a duo after the release of their dark 2016 album Camp Echo, Ingrid Helene Håvik and Trond Bersu are embarking on a new adventure. The debut single of the new era, 5 Million Miles indicated that they were aiming down the throats of pop’s mainstream, and the big sound and choruses of their follow-up singles confirmed it. The latest, I Call Bullshit, takes their sound in a softer direction, and it’s the start signal for an autumn tour. They come to Stockholm in November.

Highasakite, Obaren, Nov 15

LYKKE LI

When Lykke Li returned this summer, possibly motivated by Sarah Klang’s challenge to her title as Sweden’s saddest popstar, she made sure not to do things by half, hence the title of her new album, So Sad, So Sexy. But while the sadness remained, she’d updated her sound, moving away from the old-school acoustic pop of her last album I Never Learn and side-project LIV to cold, minimal hip-hop and R’n’B inspired beats. All that made for an album that’s 100% one of the year’s best, and after a triumphant show in the rain at Way Out West, she takes it to Stockholm in November.

Lykke Li, Annexet, Nov 10

JAAKKI EINO KALEVI

Finish pop auteur Jaakko Eino Kalevi has been absent from the solo album game since 2015’s self-titled record, but now he’s finally back. He made his return in August with Emotions In Motion, a brisk, slick synth-pop track, and followed it up with People In The Centre Of The City. His new album Out Of Touch, out in October, takes themes like internet-immersement and urban fatigue and pushes them through Jaakko’s pop music via Soviet disco filter. It comes to Fasching in late November.

Jaakko Eino Kalevi, Fasching, Nov 30

Photo: MØ by Jack Bridgeland