IF you think the sounds of Sweden begin and end with ABBA then this may come as a surprise.
Or maybe not. After all, any self-respecting pop picker will know this particular nation to be a hotbed of musical talent, producing acts like Roxette, Ace of Base, The Cardigans, Sigur Ros, Jose Gonzalez and Peter, John and Bjorn to name just a few.
Lykke Li, the country's latest export, has only just released her first record, but she's well on the way to becoming a mainstream star.
The 22-year-old's debut album, Youth Novels, has seen massive praise from critics and fans alike – all hailing the stunning Swede as a sublime pop star with enormous potential.
"The tracks were originally written in Stockholm with just me and a piano," explains the diminutive, strawberry-haired singer, who comes to Cabaret Voltaire on Thursday.
"The process was really fast but subconsciously I had probably been working on this forever.
"The music isn't even very electronic – everything we did in the studio started out acoustic. How would I describe my style? I want things to be simple but mysterious."
Li (real name is Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson) was born in Ystad, Skane, in south Sweden, and moved to Stockholm as a toddler. Life growing up with hippie parents – her dad Johan Zachrisson is a musician and mum Karsti Stiege is a photographer – was fairly unconventional.
They upped sticks and moved to a mountain top in Portugal for several years when Li was six, followed by stays in Morocco and Lisbon, then back to the homeland. Only last summer, Li was working in an old people's home, and says her life has changed dramatically "after a period of utter despair".
"Everything I write about – all the heartbreak – has really happened to me," says the singer, who wrote most of the songs on her album in two months. "I wanted it to capture a time in my youth that was reflective, but it's recorded in a way that's fast and instant.
"I just wanted to get my music out there without dwelling on it too long," she adds.
The songs on her album may be about love and heartbreak but they are upbeat tunes that you can dance to.
"I really want people to have a good time," she says. "It's really boring only to hear singer-songwriters spilling their guts."
Fans are already likening her to Madonna and Bjork, but the young Swede clearly doesn't enjoy such comparisons.
"I don't know about me being the new Madonna," she snaps. "It's not at all my kind of music. I'm much more into Nina Simone. And I didn't listen to Bjork growing up.
"I really don't think that it's interesting talking about people I sound like," she adds. It seems that Li is more interested in performing live than selling truckloads of albums.
"I don't care about fame," she agrees. "I only care about making music. When I play, people love it and it's packed. The most important thing isn't record sales, it's an audience."
After a pause she adds, "The only people who buy records now are middle-aged men who want to chill to Coldplay in the bath."
• Lykke Li, Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street, Thursday, 7.30pm, £9, 0131-220 6176 The full article contains 553 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
