The Ultimate Swedish-Pop Playlist

As you may have heard, Abba is nominated for a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Here, in their honor, we present a playlist of beloved songs from 16 other, more recent Swedes—the songs are ranked roughly in descending order of how much we adore them. 

For further listening, we recommend clicking on Hello Surprise, which has a massive alphabetical directory of every Swedish band you’ve ever heard of, plus a few—like Andypandy, Pineforest Crunch and Ninja Massacre—that you probably haven’t.

1. JJ, “Masterplan”—We are positively obsessed with this band and their tremendous album with the blood-spattered pot leaf on the cover. The way they integrate this bug-in-mouth clip into the song is beyond perfect. 

2. Acid House Kings, “This Heart Is A Stone”—From now on, when someone utters the phrase "Swedish Pop," this song should come to mind. It is the platonic ideal. 

3. Jens Lekman, “Maple Leaves”—It’s practically a tie between this song and the jangly perfection “Black Cab,” but “Maple Leaves” (in its 7-inch version, of course) has those killer drums.

4. Ace of Base, “The Sign”—That key change at 2:26 gets us every time.

5. Robyn, “Konichiwa Bitches”—Swedish rap! “I’m so very hot that when I rob your mansion / You ain’t call the cops you call the fire station.”

6. Envelopes, “It Is The Law”—The guitar line grabs the song by the throat. Then everything seems to fall apart when the vocals come in, so the guitar takes control again. And just when things seem to have stabilized, a keyboard steals the show. A delirious musical tug-of-war that’s over too fast.

7. Hello Saferide, “2008”—Her low, murmury voice is wonderful and mysterious. But the star here is that chiming guitar hook.

8. Air France, “Collapsing At Your Doorstep”—The Swedes do dance music as well as anybody.

9. Peter Bjorn and John, “Young Folks”—Do we really need an explanation at this point? We shouldn’t.

10. Loney Dear, “I Am John”—An eruptive pop volcano, and the second-consecutive song on this list with a precious animated video.

11. The Tough Alliance, “Neo Violence”—An epic tribal anthem, complete with ultra-cheesy lasers in the video.

12. Hives, “A Little More For You”—Remember when they were going to be the biggest band on the planet?

13. I’m From Barcelona, “Headphones”—At least one person in this office would vote for “Paper Planes,” but we prefer this track.

14. Leichtenstein, “Postcard”—About as twee as it gets. Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

15. Lykke Li, “Breaking It Up”—The howling chorus is the clincher.

16. Cardigans, “Rise and Shine”—A step beyond “Lovefool.”