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ALMA Wants to Be Finland’s First Major Pop Star

The Nordic country's pop impact has often come second to its Swedish neighbours, but this 21-year-old is set on taking her sound worldwide.

Quick question: What do you know about Finland? Of all the Nordic countries, it's arguably one of the least known. Denmark gave the world Lego, brought cured bacon to the UK and passed "hygge" into the hands of welcoming book publishers. Norway is famous for its backdrop of fjords and Vikings. Iceland blazed the trail in gender equality and is blessed with both the aurora borealis and Björk. Chances are you know Finland's capital city is called Helsinki and have stumbled upon the country's Moomins. Beyond that? Not so much in the way of pop stars.

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Though Finland has flirted its way through the international concert hall of music – who could forget The Rasmus, HIM and the interminably unavoidable Darude track "Sandstorm"? – it has consistently played second fiddle to its neighbours in Sweden when it comes to major pop. The likes of ABBA, Robyn and the almighty Cheiron Studios (the production house where Max Martin and Denniz PoP helped craft Britney Spears, N'Sync and the Backstreet Boys' most consummate hits) helped to stamp Sweden's cultural mark across the world. Some of music's biggest tracks are written by Swedes, said-so because they have an unparalleled knack for writing music that clutches at past heartbreak while reaching toward the hope of the future – a quality that, in essence, is what makes pop so timelessly great. So, to their chagrin, Finland has been perpetually overshadowed, with their most well-known bands and singers still unanimously metal.

"We just need that one miracle to happen and then everything is going to be so much easier," says ALMA from the backseat of a car far warmer than the fresh tundra air outside. The 21-year-old is, it's said, Finland's big pop hope. She was nominated for five Emma Awards (Finland's version of the Grammys), has played Radio 1's Future Festival (alongside other new-coming luminaries such as Dave, Jorja Smith and Nadia Rose) and has released a spell-binding EP Dye My Hair – the title track of which has clocked up a steady 30 million plays on Spotify. Her sound is sleek, refreshingly defiant, yet resolute in the way it embodies emotion – not so dissimilar to those Swedes, but with a slightly different, bold shade. It's exciting stuff.

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