From Karen Marie Ørsted (known by her stage name of MØ); and  Icona Pop; through to Lykke Li and Monica Birkenes (Mr. Little Jeans), it seems that there is no end to the number of talented female vocalists that the region of Scandinavia can produce lately. The most recent of these to emerge is Sigrid Solbakk Raabe, and from the start it became clear that there was something different about this girl. Sigrid spent her childhood listening to Joni Mitchell and Neil Young in the small town of Ålesund and after being encouraged by her musician brother, Tellef Raabe, to write music so that she could perform with him, she began to think of music as a possible career path having previously wanted to become a teacher.

Sigrid began her official musical career back in 2013 when she was signed by the popular Norwegian record label, Petroleum Records. The same year would also see the release of the singles, Sun and Two Fishes, with Sun being heralded as the breakout track in Norway in 2013. It was not long before Sigrid Raabe, her recording title at the time, was a regular name on the line up of festivals in Norway, appearing at Øyafestivalen in July 2014.

By April 2016, Sigrid Raabe would have dropped her surname and moved to esteemed label Island Records, but it would be February of 2017 before she would eventually release her first single under this label. The single? The flawless pop anthem, Don’t Kill My Vibe.

This banger of a tune comes with a particularly interesting origin story. A few years before the song had even entered into the head of Sigrid, she found herself in a room with a collection of middle aged songwriters. Sigrid recalls that during the session she had felt patronised as the other people in the room talked over her and treated any ideas that she tried to put forward with contempt and let on that they were worthless. Raabe sat quietly, biting her tongue, until after the session had concluded when she transformed her frustrations into the song currently dominating world music. It is clear that these sentiments of being spoken down to and underestimated appealed to the audiences that it was being exposed to, and at time of writing the song has over 18 million plays on Spotify.

The song would be released with the EP of the same title, and from the first listen it becomes clear that the hype is justified. The EP begins with the title track, which just sounds increasingly infectious with every listen. Following this strong beginning comes Plot Twist, a song about the complicated signals that boys send during the dating game. Fake Friends comes next, a song that is destined to dominate the radio airwaves and night club dance floors in the coming months with its heartfelt lyrics and catchy chorus. The EP comes to a close with the truly beautiful acoustic version of her song, Dynamite.

This is only the beginning of Sigrid and yet there is enough evidence in what we have heard so far to believe that it will not be the end. It is hard to see any way that her vibe could be killed at the moment.

MK