Magnus Carlsson - Sommarnatt

Stream Sommarnatt here (Spotify)

I've spent many hours immersed in the music of Swedish superstar, Magnus Carlsson. I've certainly noted his timeless contributions to the most wonderful time of year, a plethora of Christmas songs and albums that continue to bring me joy year after year. Yet, let us not forget that - to paraphrase Grease 2 - Magnus is a guy for all seasons. He is just as comfortable bringing ebullient euphoria to the summer months as he is soundtracking your festive activities. His latest Swedish language single, Sommarnatt (translation = Summer), breaks down language barriers and infuses your headphones with a glorious, uptempo jam that is as radiant as the sun rising in the morning. Even the vibrant cover art is an uplifting blast of sunny colour that sends a dopamine rush to the brain. This glee continues as you hit play on the track and let the sunshine in. A buoyant, rhythmic groove kicks the track off in high gear, like waves washing over the sand on a balmy July afternoon. A whistle type effect playfully dances alongside balearic style percussion, lending itself to finger-clicking fun that compels your hips to sway and your body to shimmy (regardless whether you understand the lyrics or not). His voice soothes and seduces during the verses before bubbling up with the music to crescendo into that invigorating chorus. And what a chorus it is - like a summer night city come to life, full of singalong hooks, majestic melodies and feel-good vibes. There is no denying that Magnus is the master of creating timeless, epic pop anthems that will still sound as splendid in twenty years time as they would have twenty years ago. Oh, and just in case you think this is his first foray into the summer - here are my top five picks from his discography to get your mid-summer night dream going...

• 05 ~ I Was Born This Way: One of the most giddy, celebratory pride songs you could ever wish to hear. Preceding Lady Gaga by a number of years, it's an honest heartfelt tribute to tolerance & acceptance (as well as promoting loving who you are and being happy with that). Joyous & makes me want to hug him every time I hear this enduring piece of music...
• 04 ~ Feel You: It's all pulsing dance beat with a soaring club driven melody (that sounds like it would be rather lovely as an acoustic version, as Swedish boys are want to do) and snuggles in perfectly to the always joyous Magnus canon. Think the dance version of Waiting For A Star To Fall and you ain't far off. B-side to this single release. Take Me To Your Heart is like a late 80s S/A/W song remixed now by Pete Hammond, ie - very palatable indeed...
• 03 ~ Best In Me: Not just inspired by Stock Aitken & Waterman, it's positively drenched in their influences. I'm pretty certain the backing track owes a huge debt to Love In The First Degree. It doesn't even matter. It's such a feel good piece of music and entirely immensicles and tremendulent (and any other made up word to express sheer happiness you can think of)!
• 02 ~ Live Forever: Soaring 80s electro pop inspired ditty that could not be any better if it tried. It's pointless me wasting any words on how brilliant I find this song because there are no words that do it justice. Just immerse yourself, listen, love, repeat and be happy. Not just one of the best Magnus songs ever but one of the finest pop songs out there :) L.O.V.E.
• 01 ~ Crazy Summer Nights: Could there really have been another song at number one? It encapsulates everything that is wonderful about the summer - that feeling of happiness, the anticipation that anything could happen, the daring drop of inhibitions thanks to boozy heated nights lowering your defenses. All set to a rollicking score that has the contents of your swimming shorts tingling with ecstasy.

Top 25 songs of the week:

25 ~ Tom Chaplin, Solid Gold
24 ~ Erasure, World Be Gone (NE)
23 ~ Erasure, Love You To The Sky
22 ~ Sergey Lazarev, Lucky Stranger
21 ~ Smith & Thell, Row
20 ~ Sound of Arrows, Beautiful Life
19 ~ Steps, Scared Of The Dark
18 ~ Little Mix, Power
17 ~ Olly Murs ft Louisa Johnson, Unpredictable
16 ~ Eric Odeen, I Don't Really Dance
15 ~ Eric Saade, Another Week (NE)
14 ~ Carly Rae Jepsen, Cut To The Feeling (NE)
13 ~ Carlos Marco, Summer Something
12 ~ Jim, Under Attack
11 ~ Robbie Williams, The Heavy Entertainment Show
10 ~ Mary Lambert, Know My Name
09 ~ Take That, New Day
08 ~ Jukebox The Ghost, Stay The Night
07 ~ The Heydaze, New Religion
06 ~ DNCE, Kissing Strangers
05 ~ Tove Styrke, Say My Name
04 ~ Jakil, Every Time We Talk
03 ~ Bleachers, Don’t Take The Money
02 ~ Steps, Story Of A Heart
01 ~ Sean Smith, Magic (3 weeks)