Marit Bergman

Marit Bergman once summed up her musical beginnings with the sequence "Madonna > X-Ray Spex > Discharge > Sonic Youth > Roberta Flack > Mary J. Blige," a shorthand that signals both her wide-ranging tastes and the sweeping pop ambition that would define her own recordings along with the depth of her singing. She entered the world in 1975 in a modest Swedish community located in the country's central region. Songwriting began for her at twelve, and by seventeen she had assembled her debut group, the pop-punk outfit Candysuck, whose first recording arrived in the form of the clever yet polarizing single "Kill Your Boyfriend." Three years after that band disbanded, Bergman issued her initial solo effort, Three A.M. Serenades, through the independent Sugartoy imprint she controlled; the 2002 release prompted critics to pay closer attention. Strong notices and solid independent sales followed, leading in 2003 to a deal with the Swedish arm of RCA/BMG, which then put the album back into circulation. Her subsequent full-length, Baby Dry Your Eyes, achieved widespread domestic impact and brought her a pair of Swedish Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Female Artist and Best Songwriter. The 2006 album I Think It's a Rainbow broadened her canvas still further, folding together introspective singer/songwriter pieces, exuberant girl-group stylings rooted in the 1960s, bright and inventive modern pop, and additional strands; it carried her name beyond the Nordic countries even as she continued without an American or European contract at the time of writing.