Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe. All my Songs of the Week are featured on my Top of the Poptastic playlist, along with the rest of my faves from the year so far.
If High School Musical: The Reunion was a real thing I’d like to think the soundtrack would sound like this. Sadly, musicals are pretty much the only place to hear such joyfully unpretentious music these days, but I hope the success of The Greatest Showman might mean we get a few more of those in the next few years. Of course, the other place you can discover happy-go-lucky pop music in 2018 is Scandinavia, and that’s where Bonds originated. Originally released by Swedish duo Patricia Lundblad and Karl Arheden in 2016 under the artist name Kacia, the song re-emerged attributed to their new project TOPIA last month. I’d love to see them in Melodifestivalen with something like this next year. Although they’re now back in Sweden, TOPIA actually met when they studied at BIMM music college here in London, which attracts many Scandi students. They went on to sign a publishing deal with BMG Scandinavia, so whether or not they make it as artists, a career writing songs for musicals could be in their future.