A lot of my friends constantly remind me that Norway (and Sweden) are the metal meccas of the world, but I never knew that they had a decent collection of singer-songwriters as well. I’ve been downloading a lot of them lately, and they’re pretty good. Not spectacular, but still good to listen to.

First is Sondre Lerche. I haven’t had the chance to listen to Duper Sessions, but I have given his old albums a listen and they sound great.

I’ve also started listening to Maria Mena. Her albums have been collecting dust in my computer for about eight months now, and I regret to admit that I actually forgot about them when they finished downloading. I like her music so far, and I love her voice.

When I was in my early teens, I was a huge M2M fan. I wasn’t heartbroken when they disbanded (because I was a bit turned off when they recorded a Mandarin version of some of their songs). When Marion Raven came back on the scene, I wasn’t really impressed with her music. But recently, I found out that Marit Larsen has been back for about four years – although she’s with a Norwegian label instead of an international one unlike Marion Raven. I really like her music now, since she seems to know how to use her voice properly. And she performed at the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. How cool is that?

I remember listening to Lene Marlin’s song Sitting Down Here, some years ago. I didn’t know it was her, then. I’ve listened to her new album, Twist the Truth, and it’s really nice.

There are a few others such as Ingrid Olava, Thom Hell (really good), Elvira Nikolaisen, and Thomas Dybdahl. I haven’t listened to them much, except for probably one song each.

Going to look at outdoor dining sets now.