Oh Land - Wish Bone

Blonde and statuesque, Nanna Øland Fabricius looks like a pop star – but doesn’t quite sound like one. A former ballet dancer, the 28-year-old Dane is perfectly capable of going the ‘full Beyoncé’ (she cavorts like a pro in the video to new single ‘Renaissance Girls’), while evincing a deep ambivalence about commercial success and the sacrifices required to achieve it.
Speaking recently, she confessed she has been advised over and over to work with a top-line producer such as Dr Luke, only to resist because fame and wealth for their own sake would leave her empty inside. Certainly, there’s plenty of edgy, tear-up-the-script spirit on her third album, even if she has made the major concession of collaborating with co-writers such as Sia and TV On The Radio’s David Sitek. The aforementioned ‘Renaissance Girls’ is a slam dunk of throwaway r’n’b , albeit one upholstered with fem-power lyrics (the track is a call for womanly empowerment via, well of course, Leonardo Da Vinci-style multi-tasking).
Cleaving closer to Scandi pop-princess stereotype, ‘My Boxer’ suggests a Robyn/Lykke Li mashup and ‘Love You Better’ is a straightforward acoustic ballad. There are some glittering moments here yet Fabricius never truly imprints her personality on the music.

Key Track: 'Renaissance Girls'