If ever there was proof that the UK is a year behind Sweden at all times, it is the comparison of Agnes and Leona Lewis. In 2005, Agnes won Idol and in the following few years became one of Sweden’s biggest popstars. In 2006, Leona, an Agnes look-alike and sound-alike, won X Factor and subsequently became one of Britain’s biggest popstars. Last year, Agnes took a new, more poptastic direction with her music, working with the brilliant Anders Hansson, who regularly collaborates with my hero Alexander Bard. So who should Leona collaborate with a year later? The closest UK equivalent, Xenomania of course!
It’s almost spooky how similar their paths have been in some senses, and they look so alike it is easy to mistake photos of one for the other. However, the difference in their success demonstrates the unfair advantage British acts have in the international music industry. Agnes may have done everything Leona did a year before she did it, but only now is she releasing her first single in the UK and America, and the chances of her getting anywhere close to Leona’s success are miniscule.
The British press may congratulate the nation for every international musical success we have, but is it really that much of an achievement? Sweden not only produces artists as good as, if not better than, the British ones, but songwriters and producers far superior to those of the UK, or any other nation. This shows to me that any international success UK artists have demonstrates only the continued privilege given to UK acts over other European acts, and not any particular quality of music on our part.
Xenomania are brilliant, and without them the UK would be even further behind, but one great production team cannot match up to the consistent quality among the much smaller number of writers and producers working in Sweden. Swedish acts do have more international success than their neighbours, but it is always only critical acclaim, or, in the case of acts like Agnes, a small group of obsessed fans but no support whatsoever from radio or record labels in America, which is generally a barrier to worldwide fame and popularity. This is why Erik Hassle is so exciting: his music has very broad appeal and sounds as much like everybody else as it sounds like nobody else. It is going to be very interesting to see whether his Swedishness will still be a barrier to him becoming the huge star he has the potential to be.