Truls

From the latter half of the '90s into the early 2010s, Truls Heggero served as frontperson for the Norwegian post-hardcore outfit Lukestar, a group that achieved domestic success and captured a 2008 Spellemannprisen—widely viewed as Norway's counterpart to the Grammy—at the height of its profile. In the same stretch he also fronted the short-lived project Truls and the Trees, which released only one album. Once Lukestar disbanded, Heggero launched a solo career under the name Truls, secured a deal with Parlophone, and shifted toward a sound shaped by studio craft that blended contemporary R&B with pop. The otherworldly lead single "Out of Yourself," drawn from his debut solo album TRVLS, reached the Norwegian Top Ten and earned a 2013 Spellemannprisen nomination for "This Year's Hit," though the award ultimately went to Ylvis' "The Fox." Two years later the exuberant track "Circles" introduced his follow-up album, slated for release through Warner Music Norway.