Zuma - Norwegian Girl

"There's nobody like my baby"

In keeping with yesterday's track from Norway's MGP, I've got a song from Zuma for you today. One half of Zuma is Alexander Stenerud, who entered the fantastic Give It To Me in the contest this year and the even better Find My Girl last year. I am a ridiculously huge fan of his voice. To me his style of singing has a real classic, wandering-balladeer sound to it. His songwriting has a similar old-school feel, even when the lyrics are totally contemporary. Zuma released a couple of great albums around the turn of the century and now they've compiled the best tracks, along with Stenerud's solo hits and two new songs, on the compilation album Pearls. One lost gem appearing on the cd is Norwegian Girl. It was released all the way back in 2000 and doesn't appear on any of their albums. Despite being a decade old, it's completely refreshing in 2010. Gone is the hyper-electronic sound of Stenerud's most recent hits, replaced by a gentle pop melody that grabs you from the first listen and doesn't let go. The vocals actually remind me a lot of Sparks (and if you don't know who Sparks is, look them up pronto). I'm dangerously obsessed with this song right now, and although Pearls could benefit from cutting two or three songs from the middle, Zuma's a band well worth checking out. I have a feeling they've gone a little underappreciated, at least in the online world. As far as synth-pop groups go, they're right up there with the best of them. Hopefully Stenerud's massive success these past few years will up their profile.

Zuma - Norwegian Girl by alienhits

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.