Dina Ögon are a fourpiece who certainly have their own identity and Swedish post-folk swagger with a pop-Tuung groove!
You may recall as part of our continuing series of 'What's going on in Sweden', we dipped into Dina Ögon summery jingley/jangley sixties pop sensibilites last year with thier single, 'Orion' (see review HERE). And they're back with a double A sider 'Dålig teve' ('Bad TV') and 'Margaretas sång' ('Margareta's Song').
Whilst the cover looks like a lost clip from 'Annika Strandhed' a TV series based in Scotland staring Nicola Walker (with it's 'stolen' look of Nordic Noir), we're tolda Anna Ahnlund's voice "has never sounded this ambivalent before, and the lyrics have never been so fantastically bittersweet. While the lyrics capture a relationship in decay and regrowth".
That said, what really caught our ear were 'Magareta's Song' with the instrumental highlighting a bit of seasonal bell jingling. And by coincidence, I'm told our favourite Swedish jazzers, Coco Chatru Quartet have a new "Christmas" album coming out soon; quite a jump from their last album (see review HERE) you'd have thought. And, just incase you didn't know, guitarist Daniel Ögren played on Sven Wonder's recent album, 'Daybreak'!
Just in case you've ever listened to the BBC Radio series 'The Cold Swedish Winter' that revolves around an Anglo-male living in Sweden with his Swedish wife and young son, you'll have some sort of knowledge of how complicated life in Sweden is; Dina Ögon's fourth album 'Människobarn' due out in early 2026 will cheer up any ex-pats.
