We haven’t featured Elina previously, maybe because we tend to champion Indie artists who get less attention elsewhere, but there’s no doubting her credentials as a songwriter and artist / performer in her own right. Her new EP ‘Remember’ was released last week, and it’s a mightily impressive set of songs that will undoubtedly have widespread commercial appeal.
Those of you outside Sweden in particular may not have come across her name, but if you haven’t you may have heard her songs, given she has written for the likes of Zara Larsson, Astrid S and most notably having co-written the 2016 track ‘Sexual’ for NEIKED.
She started releasing her own material in 2018, and if Spotify streams are anything to go by, the response has been astonishing, with single ‘Champion’ being listen to close to 50 million times alone. Even by Spotify’s notoriously frugal standards, that should definitely help pay for some future recording costs.
New EP ‘Remember’ does definitely represent a shift from previous releases, as it is almost entirely acoustic based, and for me that suits her vocal and songwriting style perfectly - although judging from her success, she can clearly write in whatever style she likes. Lead single ‘Remember’, similar to opener ’How’ and second track ‘Free’, feel very natural in its conception, with an easy going melody that builds into an attractive chorus. Rhythmically it does seem to stick to a style that I hear a fair amount, and undoubtedly it feels ‘commercial’ in the production than most artists we feature, but it’s very well written and vocally convincing.
If she racks up another 50 million streams for ‘Remember’ I wouldn’t be surprised, and the whole EP is very easy to listen to.