Christmas music… But make it Scandipop!

With radio playing the same rotation of seasonal songs every year, you can look no further than the Nordics to switch up your festive playlists and add some of the region’s own Christmas classics!

Norwegian artist Andrea Hegard has managed to incorporate a country-music twang into her sing-along seasonal delight, Home By Christmas. It’s a ditty so infectious, you might well be fashioning a stetson onto even your most sensible snow boots.

Sweden’s Magnus Carlsson gives us a cruise-ship Christmas by doing his best camp crooner impersonation on the marvellous mental-image inducing Wrap Myself in Paper. The retro-hued romp is bags of fun thanks to the tongue-in-cheek delivery of the knowingly laughable lyrics. You’ll be singing the chorus “it’s Christmas in a week in a day” long after that last bit of garish tinsel has been packed away for another year.

Mariah Carey’s all-time great All I Want For Christmas Is You is essentially a schlager song, so it’s no surprise that the Swedish stars of the genre have been coming out with Christmas songs of their own. Wiktoria’s Not Just For Xmas could well have been another global number 1 smash for Mariah, and is just as catchy. Another infectious stocking filler is Santa Bring My Baby To Me by Lisa Ajax, while schlager queen Pernilla Wahlgren gives us a flirty festive treat on Holiday With You.

Finally, we all remember the Danish pop purveyors Alphabeat. Well, while they were still making music, they had the foresight to craft a Christmas tune so that we’d keep coming back to them every December. Like so many of their songs, X-Mas (Let’s Do It Again) hits you with a rose-tinted recollection of the doe-eyed days of youth. It’s a nostalgia trip that’s turned out to be a delight to take every holiday season.

Web: www.scandipop.co.uk