SoS Weekly Jams #4

By Euradio

Week Four: Shall we stay pop?

This week we try to stay pop, and we fail. Swedish Tom Serner a.k.a. Sindy sings bittersweet lyrics on top of spirited music; a good start as that's pure pop tradition. French Lenparrot puts us on a steady path of crystal-clear piano and smooth saxophone. We continue our journey with Italian Benedetta Raina’s hedonistic ukulele back beat. Dutch Elsa Birgitta Bekman keeps the ukulele and the piano but adds in the choir and the sandwiches. Austrian trip hop legends Waldeck speed up the pace with a mix of upbeat piano and peaceful voice. They lead the way to their fellow countrywoman Sofie’s bewitching keyboard. Icelander DJ Flugvel Og Gimskip (airplanes and spaceships) lures us to a side lane of high-pitched, bollywood-style melodies. Can we go back to our initial pop-laden road? Should we trust French Jazzboy? Their tender duet is definitely pop, but what's with those avalanches of beats? Oh no, here come the pounding kicks of Persian / New Zealand CHAII! Can we resist? I don’t think Zambian Sampa The Great’s hip hop will let us. She opens the path to English The Allergies' powerful soul. Where to go from here? We’re dancing to London trio Big Joanie’s punk funk (or is it funk punk?). Here comes guitar-loaded Finnish Linkopii … But wait … Coming out of nowhere (but also from London) are Biig Piig’s bouncing bass lines and broken voice, which might put us back on the pop road. George Ka’s stiff flow guides us through Parisian nights and brings us to Mackenzie Leighton’s beautiful ballad about Guillaume the French postman.

Every Friday for Summer of Solidarity, the Euradio team picks 15(ish) cool tracks out of its recent airing list to showcase the best of what European sound has to offer.