Miss Li

Linda Carlsson spent her entire life immersed in singing, traversing rock, blues, jazz, Broadway material, opera, and metal while appearing in numerous productions and groups. Only in 2006 did the 24-year-old Swede commit fully to a professional path by adopting the Miss Li persona and generating an unusually rapid succession of recordings. Although she had not touched the piano since school, she chose to accompany herself on the instrument and assembled a supporting ensemble that featured double bassist Clas Lassbo, drummer Gustav Nahlin, who also contributed production, and a three-piece horn section. The songs she wrote drew from pop, jazz, polka, country, and rhythm & blues yet remained anchored in a theatrical cabaret and music-hall pop idiom, with lyrics centered on romantic and sexual adventures alongside a playfully exaggerated celebration of hedonism. Her debut single, “Oh Boy,” and first album, Late Night Heartbroken Blues, both appeared in November 2006; God Put a Rainbow in the Sky arrived the following May, and Songs of a Rag Doll followed in October 2007. Shortly thereafter her label issued Best of 061122 -- 071122, rendering Li one of the earliest artists to receive a greatest-hits collection barely eighteen months after her initial release. Issued as a double-disc set that incorporated B-sides and outtakes, the compilation reflected the compact scale of her three prior albums, each containing ten tracks and roughly thirty minutes of music. Nevertheless, Best of 061122 -- 071122 became her highest-charting project to that point, reaching number 11 on the Swedish album charts at the same time “Oh Boy” belatedly entered the Top Ten. Li has also recorded duets with fellow Swedes Lars Winnerbäck on the number-one hit “Om du Lämnade Mig Nu” and Maia Hirasawa on “Crackers.”