Midem Buzz Band showcase for Marit Larsen
2006 proved to be a banner year for pop icon Marit Larsen with several domestic hits, an MTV prize and an applauded first solo album. Now, Larsen aims for the international market and kicks off with an appearance at Midem’s Buzz Band 2007 event.
Norwegian pop icon Marit Larsen is one of eight international acts selected for appearances at Midem, the music industry’s biggest annual gathering in Cannes, France. Larsen is set to play a showcase during the music industry trade fair’s Buzz Bands event
Former member of teen-pop duo M2M, Marit Larsen, has had a fabulously successful year following the release of her first solo album.
Wrote Pitchforkmedia.com in its track review (four stars) of Don’t Save Me earlier this year: “Marit Larsen-- "the blonde one" from Norwegian prefab twosome M2M-- has publicly deserted her handcuffed history with her solo debut, Under the Surface. The bright, kitchen-sink production on first single "Don't Save Me" twinkles benignly with a sterile, fjord-pop luster. It throws scattershot percussion-- wide drums and handclaps-- next to synths, a Stevie Wonder harmonica, and an ABBA piano refrain. Yet its busy sound is meaningfully busy, redeemed in the tug of war between the song's ebullient veneer and its freighted lyrics. One luscious meme circulating on fan-girl LiveJournals holds that Larsen's second-person jaunt is aimed at her former M2M partner, Marion Raven. Larsen denies it (surprise surprise), but from her opening couplet ("You say we must move forward/ And I say let's not go back"), an anxious fatigue masquerades as friendly consensus, an agreement to leave the past in the past. Adorned with quavering mandolins, the chorus embraces the same passive/aggressive duality: Larsen makes her titular request, confessing amongst aspartame melodies, "Our little castle is a house of cards." Plump with both joy and melancholy, "Don't Save Me" spills over its unbending pop-song borders into grownup territory, probing the thorny process of letting go.”
In September 2006, Larsen played a highly successful set at the major Norwegian Night at the Popkomm festival/trade fair in Berlin. She also participated in a high-profile Norwegian trade delegation to India last autumn which was fronted by the crown prince and princess.
Mid-March will see the 23-year old songsmith performing with her trusted backing band at the South By Southwest showcase festival in Austin, TX.
More info on Midem concerts and events here.
Headlines:
Himmelkvad
Celebrated vocal ensemble Nordic Voices is currently out on its promo tour for their new outing ‘Himmelkvad’, a critically acclaimed album presenting Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen’s unique vocal universe. MIC Norway takes a closer look at the cutting-edge vocal ensemble and ground-breaking composer.
I was the devil in my younger years
Late Feb sees Enslaved heading out on a month-long European tour. MIC Norway hooked up with Enslaved’s Ivar Peersen to talk about musical cross pollination, inspirational sources, humour and his fascination for singer-songwriter Stein Torleif Bjella.
