Sofia Loell

Swedish pop singer Sofia Loell first drew notice at home before venturing across the Atlantic in 2002 to unveil her American debut album, Right Up Your Face. Raised amid the rural landscapes beyond the modest village of Uppsala, north of Stockholm, the young vocalist received early encouragement from a schoolteacher who urged her to compose her own material. By roughly age 15 she was crafting songs modeled after Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, the two artists who most inspired her, shifting from initial Swedish lyrics to English. Talent scouts at the Swedish label Pama soon noticed her abilities and offered her a recording contract, during which she collaborated with label president Maxe and producer Johan Glössner while still in her teens. Several years afterward a six-song demo reached Curb Records in the United States, prompting the label to secure a distribution agreement with Loell. In late 2001 Curb issued her first single, “Right Up Your Face,” followed by the full album bearing the same title in 2002.