The opening day of Lost In Music on Wednesday 4th October at Tavara-Asema will feature a special evening with three current Nordic artists of international interest: the young Norwegian SKAAR, the Swedish-Finnish Markus Krunegård, who was also seen at Flow Festival last summer, and Jesse Markin, who has earned critical and public acclaim with his two album releases.
Norwegian artist SKAAR‘s voice flows like waters of the Norwegian fjords: crystal clear, immediate and unapologetic. The young artist’s career began in 2018 with her debut single Higher Ground, which has since gone double platinum and featured on the soundtrack of Norwegian Netflix film Battle when SKAAR was just 19 years old. With over 50 million streams, eight top 40 singles and numerous award nominations, the artist arrives at Lost In Music accompanied by her upcoming double album Mad Woman. In the first half of the work, released in March this year, the artist unpacks traumas and experiences from toxic relationships to defining events of childhood.
SKAAR has released two albums prior to his latest release: her 2020 debut album The Other Side of Waiting, and an acoustic album Waiting in 2021, which showcases the artist’s more vulnerable side.
Markus Krunegård is a Swedish-Finnish singer and songwriter who has so far built his career in Sweden. Krunegård, who started out in music in 2001 with the band Laakso, is one of the most beloved Swedish singer-songwriters of recent years and has also made an appearance in the Swedish version of the popular TV series Vain elämää, Så mycket bättre.
The artist will release his first Finnish-sung solo album, Nokia & Ericsson, later in 2023. The album was conceived at a poolside in Los Angeles, where Krunegård was staying with friends and originally writing songs of a very different kind. Renowned songwriter Krunegård has previously composed music for stars such as Charli XCX, Santigold, Icona Pop, Carly Rae Jepsen and Veronica Maggio.
Jesse Markin is without a doubt one of the most intriguing and engaging artists in Finland at the moment. Markin’s music could be described as a unique mix of indie pop, rap, soul, r&b, prog rock and African folk.
After releasing his debut album FOLK in 2019 Markin skyrocketed to the limelight and was awarded with numerous awards including Newcomer of the Year and Critics choice awards in the annual Emma Gaala (Finnish Grammys) and Album of the Year in Indie Awards. Markin’s sophomore album NOIR was released in 2021 and it continued from where FOLK left off. Jesse Markin has also received a lot of international attention and toured across various festivals in Europe.
Currently Markin and producer Totte Rautiainen are actively recording and working on material for Markin’s upcoming third album.