“Straight from the motherfuckin’ dungeons of pop!” proclaimed Swedish electro-funk-popper Juvelen when he first launched his little corner of MySpace. He’s on a mission to restore pop’s good name and once again make sexy the shit, and his first full length effort, simply titled ‘1’, is a very good first stab at that.

After a series of unfulfilling gigs as guitarist and keyboardist in various bands, Jonas Pettersson went into hiding in a Stockholm basement in 2005 and started recording songs as Juvelen. He hooked up with producer Patrik Berger (Robyn, Hilary Duff) and released an eponymous five-song EP last year which spawned hits ‘Hanna’ and ‘Watch Your Step’, both included on ‘1’.

Like with Danish pop act Private the 1980s are the governing premise for Juvelen with one obvious reference in heyday Prince, and all the way through you have a good, almost soothing feeling of recognition, kinda like when you dream of people you know but can’t make out their faces. But even though you expect to see Kylie appear in stonewashed jeans and neon tank top more than once, Juvelen (“The Jewel” in Swedish) is always his very funky, soulful own.

Genre: Pop
Who: Juvelen
Title: 1
Label: Hybris
Year: 2008
Country: Sweden
Language: English
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Recommended tracks:
Don’t Mess – Hanna – They Don’t Love You – Watch Your Step