WORTH A LOOK? *****
Mother Monster’s best single since Born This Way in 2011 finds her experimenting with industrial house and sampling/giving songwriting credits to Siouxsie and The Banshees as she tees up new album Mayhem.
By Aline Mahrud
WHEN?: Saturday 1 March 2025 7pm UK time
WHERE?: Husqvarna Garden, Jönköping
Male soloists have perhaps surprisingly won each of the 1st 4 MF heats and we’ve our fingers crossed for female duo Scarlet (pictured above) to step up on Saturday and break that run with their hard gothic rock.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
TRACKLIST: Polari; Cupid’s Bow; I Know; Shadow Of Love; Make Me A Man; Dizzy; Archangel; Miss You So Much; When We Kiss; Whisper In The Waves; Beautiful; Heal You; Language
Duets with Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys and Elton John mean the groundwork has been laid and that this 1st official solo album’s predominantly uptempo, 80s-influenced musical theme makes perfect sense.
By Aline Mahrud
WHEN?: Saturday 15 February 2025 7pm UK time
WHERE?: ABB Arena, Västerås
Established male MF stars have won the 1st 2 Melodifestivalen heats and this week we believe it’s the turn of newcomer Greczula to shine.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Saturday 8 February (matinee), opens 13 February and runs through 26 April 2025 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)
We’re at dinner with friends the night before we see this and they mention they caught it on its 1st preview.
By Aline Mahrud
WHEN?: Saturday 8 February 2025 7pm UK time
WHERE?: Scandinavium, Gothenburg
Melodifestivalen showed its strength in depth last week with a 1st heat strong on musical diversity and there is much that is different to again appreciate here in this 2nd outing.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
The controversial exclusion of One Morning Left’s hard rock novelty song Puppy from Finland’s Eurovision selection show UMK on 8 February leaves this sticky and sexually explicit joy the clear favourite to triumph.
By Aline Mahrud
WHEN?: Saturday 1 February 2025 7pm UK time
WHERE?: Coop Norrbotten Arena, Luleå
There’s lots of variety in the 60-second snippets we’ve heard in this opening of 5 heats with the S Club-ish closing number by Linnea Henriksson being our pick of the bunch so far.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
TRACKLIST: Audacious; Everydaydreamer; The Doctor; Hooked; Build It Up; Night Or Day; Tell Me I Should Stay; Cats; Black Eyelashes; Bar Lonely; The Birds
Franz Ferdinand only include 2 of its original line-up in the now quintet which may give a clue why this 6th album is a dramatic return to form.
