WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

Regular readers of monstagigz will be familiar with Swedish singer songwriter Dotter, real name Johanna Jansson, not least through bringing her idiosyncratic brand of indie pop to the last four Melodifestivalens.

• Read on for reasons including to listen to Backfire and our hopes for what Dotter does next

Dotter channelled Florence and the Machine during last single Bulletproof which was just a point behind winners The Mamas in a surprise Melodifestivalen final in March. It was no disgrace as our prediction for the eventual winners at the Eurovision-that-never-was shows.

Dotter first took part in Melodifestivalen as a songwriter in 2017 and the following year didn’t make the finalen as a writer/performer. In 2019 she made her second appearance in the finalen as a songwriter.

Backfire boasts verses which sound like Sia writing for Rihanna with a speeded-up pop reggae sound that is very Ace Of Base in summer.

The chorus is more open, expansive and pure pop, touching on the indie quirk heights of last single Bulletproof. Dotter even sounds a little Delores Cranberries in a brief spoken section before the final chorus.

The defiant theme of the lyrics with their ‘Don’t put me down, it’s gonna Backfire‘ refrain show her determination. We’d love to see perform her own song again in Melodifestivalen next year but she also has the talent to do it on her own outside of the competition and find success.

• Picture via Facebook courtesy Dotter. Tickets
• Have you seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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