Svala

July 16, 2001

Icelandic singer/songwriter Svala is set to release her debut album, The Real Me, September 25 on Priority Records.

The album's title track was released to radio July 2 and is currently being played on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, WKTU-FM in New York City, KHTS-FM in San Diego, as well as WDRQ-FM and WKQI-FM in Detroit. A video for "The Real Me" was recently lensed by director Nigel Dick (Britney Spears, Matchbox Twenty) and will be hitting TV in the coming weeks.

"I'd say my album is a combination of different elements," she says. "There are tracks that are definitely young and fresh like 'All About You.' And then we have some songs that are more sophisticated such as 'True Love,' which has a cool jazzy flavor. I wanted to make a record that would be able to reach a wide audience."

Influenced by a wide range of artists -- "from Patsy Cline, Fleetwood Mac, The Carpenters, Stephen Bishop, Ella Fitzgerald and Barbra Streisand, who is still my all-time favorite, to Luther Vandross, Lionel Richie, Teddy Pendergrass, Barry White and later Madonna, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey" -- Svala says she was committed to "making a record with a lot of different elements, a real mix of pop and R&B. You're likely to find me listening to artists like Mary J. Blige, Joe, Next, Tamia and Sisqo, so you're going to hear the influence of R&B in my music. But I also have the European pop styles I grew up around. I'd like to think my album is about a lot of different musical worlds all coming together."

Working with an international cast of writers and producers, Svala recorded the album in a variety of locations from her native Reykjavik to Stockholm, London and Glasgow. She also ventured across the Atlantic for sessions in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York.

The successful Swedish team of Anders Bagge & Arnthor Birgisson (whose credits include 98 Degrees, Ricky Martin and 702) produced "The Real Me" and "Never Should Have Let You Go"; hitmaker Jive (known for his work with Mandy Moore on the hit "Candy") produced "Love Me, Love Me Not"; while Stockholm's Andreas & Josef cut the funky "Count To Four," another Svala collaboration which she explains, "is all about the end of a relationship. That's one song that isn't based on personal experience although I have plenty of friends who've been through the situation the song describes."

Jorgen Elofsson--writer of Britney Spears' hits "(You Drive Me) Crazy" and "Sometimes"--penned the ballad "Falling" with Svala. "It's the story of a girl who is resisting being in love," she says. "She doesn't want to accept that she's in love because she really doesn't have time to put into a relationship. The guy may be great, but she's a busy girl with a busy life. Now that's something I can relate to."

The daughter of Icelandic superstar Bo Halldorsson -- who she quips "is as famous as our President!" -- Svala recalls that she was "born into the music business. My father is one of the most successful singers and producers in our country, so I was always in the studio and around a lot of musicians. There was never any pressure from my Dad for me to get into music as a career. In fact, I was always the one who was asking to record and go into the studio. Doing jingles and commercials was a great way for me to earn extra cash as a young girl."

Svala was first heard on record at the age of seven when she was featured on her father's Christmas album. Two years later, she recorded a Christmas duet with him that is still played every holiday season in Iceland. The lure of singing and making music was even stronger and in high school, and Svala began to sing with a few local bands. "I was experimenting, trying different things," she explains. "Once I got to college, I started singing with some friends. They were d.j.'s and we were just messing around when we decided to do a version of 'Was That All It Was,' which was a song that soul and jazz singer Jean Carne had done in the '70s. It was put on a dance compilation in Iceland. The next thing we knew, we were a group called Scope with an overnight hit record!"

The success of the single led to Svala and Scope's first performances with British acts like the Prodigy and Saint-Etienne. After eighteen months working with Scope and other bands (including a soul band named the Bubbleflies, who specialized in doing Motown classics), Svala decided it was time to begin her solo journey. "In 1997, I was approached by Skifan Records, which is the largest record company in Iceland, to sign with them," she notes. "From the very start, I wanted to make a record that would introduce me to audiences in the U.S. as well as other parts of Europe." Initially working with Glasgow-based producer Morrow, Svala wrote a number of songs and spent time in the studio "developing my style and direction. Once we had done a certain amount of material, Skifan began sending out tapes to different U.S. companies. Priority Records was the one we went with."

Svala speaks about following in the footsteps of another famed Icelandic musical export, singer/songwriter Bjork. "She's very talented, a real trendsetter and she's definitely opened up doors for other Icelandic artists to become well known everywhere. Musically, we're completely different... and just as she has, I hope I can show audiences that Iceland is a very musical country with a lot to offer." Look for Svala on tour this summer as part of a Seventeen magazine-sponsored mall tour at the following stops:

DATE	CITY	VENUE
August 4	Seattle, WA	The Southcenter Mall
August 11	Orlando, FL	The Florida Mall
August 18	Orland, Park, IL	Orland Park Mall
September 8	Northridge, CA	Northridge