Marit Larsen

Initially entering Norway's music landscape as one half of the teenage pop act M2M, Marit Larsen later became a fixture on domestic Top 40 playlists thanks to buoyant alt-rock offerings such as "Don't Save Me" and "Under the Surface." She and Marion Raven launched the duo in 1999, generating multiple successes that included the 1999 single "Don't Say You Love Me," which reached number 21 on American charts. The partnership ended in 2002 after their U.S. debut album The Big Room posted only modest returns.

Larsen spent the next two years writing and shaping her own songs before resurfacing with a revised image and an EMI agreement that led to live performances and radio play across Norway, highlighted by early originals like "This Time Tomorrow" and "Recent Illusion."

Her debut solo singles "Don't Save Me" and "Under the Surface" reached Norwegian listeners in early 2006, advancing into the Top Ten and confirming her status among the nation's leading pop acts that year. Under the Surface attained double-platinum certification at home, and the songwriter collected two Spellemannprisen awards for the project. The Chase appeared in 2008, fronted by the potent single "If a Song Could Get Me You," which served as her first release aimed at worldwide audiences. A 2009 compilation sharing that title assembled six tracks from Under the Surface alongside seven from The Chase.

Spark, her third studio album, arrived in 2011 and featured the Norwegian chart-topping song "Vår Beste Dag"; the same year she supplied vocals for fellow countryman Sondre Lerche's self-titled LP. Self-produced and released in 2014, When the Morning Comes topped the Norwegian charts and earned Larsen Spellemannpris nominations for music composition and lyrics. That year she also recorded "Take Everything Back" for the thriller The Sleepwalker soundtrack, duetting with English chanteuse Sylvie Lewis on a number she co-wrote with Lewis, Lerche, and Kato Ådland.

Departing from her prior approach, the April 2016 EP Joni Was Right presented spare acoustic and folk-styled songs. Her first independent outing, it introduced the imprint Håndbrygg Records. Joni Was Right II followed that September, and the combined collection Joni Was Right I/II later surfaced on CD and vinyl.