Nord (Sweden) – Sweatheart (single) ft. Malin Hofvander from Mary Anne´s Polar Rig (+ video)

After a couple of nights off running the rule over the Nordic Eurovision entries we’re back in the gritty real world tonight.

In all the time I’ve been doing this, nearly 12 years now, I’ve never read an opening PR gambit like this one from the electronic duo Nord, aka Nord Orchestra, which hails from Malmö, in southern Sweden.

“We draw inspiration from the social unrest permeating contemporary society.”

Inspiration from social unrest? That’s an oxymoron, surely.

Oasis, in ‘Half the World Away’ sang, of Manchester,

“I would like to leave this city/This old town don’t smell too pretty and/I can feel the warning signs”.

In fact, Noel Gallagher added he’d like to leave the entire planet to get away from his dystopian birthplace, as it then was, and probably to get away from his brother. I fancy that he’d secretly prefer to move back now.

I suppose some comparisons can be drawn between 1990s gang-crime ridden Manchester and present-day Malmö, the criminal underbelly of which was brought to the world’s attention by the leather pants-clad, Porsche driving detective Saga Norén in ‘The Bridge’. Oh Saga, where are you now?

There was a bigger body count than in all the Charles Bronson ‘Death Wish’ movies put together.

While Nord’s contempt is with wider society they do metaphorically stick the boot into Malmö with the comment,

“‘Sweatheart’, (a play on ‘Sweet heart’ I guess),is a song about our love, our dependency, and our disgust with the city.”

They add, “It is the unsung hymn of a generation – bred by, yet fed up with, urbanity. It is the melody of hating the development we love to nurture. ‘Sweatheart’ is us, captives of societal structures that drive us to prey on one another.”

Strong stuff indeed, and a comment it is difficult to attach a political inclination to, at least from here, although the song and accompanying video leave you with little doubt that Nord come at the demise of the city from a socialist viewpoint.

The lo-fi (bad-) dream pop music (which has shades of 1980s Howard Jones in the intro), the narrated text and the washed out look and blank stares of the video characters tell you affirmatively that there is not only no hope but zero opportunity to escape from the wretchedness that the participants must live in but cannot be held accountable for, as their eyes furtively dive around as if they’re expecting a drive-by shooting at any moment.

There is an early line, repeated later and spoken in an American accent, which reveals that the interviewed speaker “only works here in the Soho area, I live on the Lower East Side”, an area that is “too white for me”. I don’t know if there is a Soho and Lower East Side in the Swedish city but New York has them of course, hinting at the international nature of the issues under scrutiny.

Indeed the video may well have been filmed there and feature real people in real situations rather than actors.

I’m reminded of the similarly blank expression on the face of the cinema audience members in the video to Weyes Blood’s seminal track ‘Movies’, and their catatonic expressions which remain there until like sheep eventually realising the pen gate has been left open, they join her in her own personal movie of freedom.

Nord has twice before featured in NMC, in January 2022 and 2023 respectively, with work that we identified as highly impressive; a trend that continues here.

And they are joined on this occasion in the vocal by Malin Hofvander from Mary Anne´s Polar Rig, also natives of Malmö, and which has also adorned these pages on two occasions, with equally convincing compositions. Last time out they were having a ‘Dopamine Detox’.

‘Sweatheart’ is the second single from Nord’s forthcoming album.

Find them on:

Website (Linktree): https://linktr.ee/nordorchestra