In 1989, a wall of sorts came down in Sweden too. Perspectives widened and the Swedish music scene turned modern and cosmopolitan. Titiyo,(Tehteeyo) then in her early twenties, stepped onto the stage and invented Scandinavian soul. She was the first. She showed that we could. She was the best. Man in the moon, with a nod to Minneapolis but a groove that was remarkably Titiyo's own, became an immediate hit and the album that followed, Titiyo, was a broad success. She has been called Sweden's soul queen so many times since then that we must be a monarchy in that area too. And her comings and goings after the first album have been regally independent-minded, you might say. Always with great music and a new hairstyle when coming; always with her arms full of roses and awards when going.
Although you'd be forgiven for thinking so (her family is so full of musicians - Eagle-Eye and Neneh Cherry among others - they must have fed them with a tuning fork when they were kids), it wasn't a given that Titiyo would go into the music business. Well into her teens, she thought this music thing seemed boring and hard work. It was a visit to her sister Neneh in London that changed her mind. She's been making music ever since, in a way that most listeners and onlookers would describe as enviably effortless. Her second album, This is, was released to critical acclaim in 1993. It contained judicious spoonfuls of American and British R&B added to her own style and infused with Swedish jazz-soul spirit from Stockholm's legendary Blacknuss club. Extended, regarded by many as the masterpiece of Scandinavian 90s soul, came four years later. For her next album, Titiyo decided to try a new route. She contacted producer Tore Johansson from Tambourine Studios and songwriters Peter Svensson (from the Cardigans) and Jocke Berg (from Kent). It proved a brilliant move. The single Come along became one of the most played songs in Europe, and the album of the same name climbed to the top of any number of charts.
Titiyo has now selected her favourites and put them on Best of Titiyo. The CD includes two new tracks. Lovin' out of nothing was co-written with producer and songwriter Niclas Frisk (from now-defunct Atomic Swing) and the Cardigans' Nina Persson. Feels like heaven is a cover of the one-hit-wonder group Fiction Factory's one hit.
When Niclas Frisk talks about their renewed collaboration, it doesn't take long for words like savvy, elegance and perfectionism to creep into the conversation. "To me, Titiyo is the sort of artist who beats the system. It's not about getting lucky or being discovered. If you have that voice, those looks and that mind you can stroll into any decent record company's offices and simply ask what they have to offer - and this without a ten-ton attitude," Niclas says. He points out that when he began to work with her, he already knew that "there was something enormously luxurious and valuable in her voice. What surprised me was her exceptional judgement, her musical knowledge and her single-mindedness. When Titiyo speaks, you listen..
