Buenos días! Despite the circumstances we hope you’ve been enjoying the summer months. Eurovision artists new and old have been throwing lots of new music our way over the past months so we’re continuing our new music series by reminding you of some of these summer sizzlers that you may have missed.
We’re going to count down 10 of the best songs released in June, with a follow-up on July coming very soon! Don’t forget to check out the ESCBubble playlists on Spotify & YouTube at the bottom for all your listening needs.
10. Victor Crone – ‘Yes, I Will Wait’ (Estonia 2019)
Swedish singer Victor Crone has had a great year. Following his strong performance representing Estonia last year with ‘Storm’, Crone made a successful return to Melodifestivalen earlier this year – qualifying diretly to the final with ‘Troubled Waters’.
His first follow up single, ‘Yes, I Will Wait’ is the successor to ‘Troubled Waters’ in many ways. He’s keeping to that country-tinged dance music sound which we’ve all fallen in love with and the result is once again another super radio friendly pop song that we can’t stop listening to! There is no official video but you can check Victor performing his new release at Swedish summer festival Lotta På Liseberg earlier this month.
He has since released a new song as well titled ‘This Can’t Be Love’, but we may well be covering that in the next new music article!
9. Tayanna – ‘Euphoria’ (Ukraine NF 2017/18)
Tayanna has always been a fan-favourite across both of her Vidbir appearances. She came runner-up twice with her Eurovision bids ‘I Love You’ and ‘Lelya’ and was planning to compete again in 2019 but withdrew prior to the start of the contest.
That hasn’t stopped her though as Tayanna has just released a brand new EP – “Жіноча сила”. The EP contains 5 diverse tracks which both show her stunning vocals and also a very 80s-friendly dance sound. Speaking of her release, Tayanna dedicates her album to “strong women who determine their own lives”
Our favourite track on the album is “Ейфорія” (translates to ‘Euphoria’), a wonderful upbeat track with mixed elements of disco and synth-pop. As we all look to add songs to our summer playlists, adding this is absolutely a no brainer. Check out the track here:
8. Sofi Marinova & Konstanstin – ‘Problem’ (Bulgaria 2012)
There is no denying that Sofi Marinova is a star. Without having any staging and audio feedback, her Eurovision 2012 performance of ‘Love Unlimited’ eased its way in to the heart of many a Eurofan. Whilst she didn’t quite qualify – heartbreakingly missing out on a tiebreak – she has shown with her latest single ‘Problems’ that she is still capable of delivering.
Teaming up with fellow Bulgarian pop singer Konstanstin, they have served us a Bulgarian banger in ‘Проблем’ (translates to ‘Problem’). From the second it starts, you know what is coming. You’re instantly teleported to a Balkan club and ready to party, the beats kick in immediately and that token Balkan sound is injected in to the song throughout. Give the video a watch here:
7. Anis Don Demina ft. Dotter – ‘Temperatur’ (Sweden NF 2018/19/20)
Looking at the Swedish charts from 2020, it’s pretty safe to say that Melodifestivalen entrants Anis Don Demina & Dotter were two of the big winners in streams and sales. Both participating for their second attempt individually after both originally failing to make it out of their first heat.
Following on from this success at the start of the year, they have teamed up for ‘Temperatur’, a pure rap-pop banger which quickly raises our temperature! Featured on Anis Don Demina’s latest EP titled ‘ARTIST’, it features Anis and his signature high-speed rapping whilst bulletproof Dotter overs her flawless vocals to the chorus. Another essential addition to your summer BBQ playlists! Check out the official lyric video here:
6. KEiiNO – ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ (Norway 2019)
KEiiNO have really been capitalising on their 2019 televote victory with a constant stream of new releases as they feature on our Top 10 once again! Consisting of Alexandra Rotan, Tom Hugo & Fred Buljo, KEiiNO are nothing short of a household hand for the Eurofandom at this point.
Back in May they released their debut album ‘OKTA’ which featured all of the amazing songs we’ve covered before including ‘Black Leather’ and ‘Praying’. Their latest release isn’t actually on the album, however their synthpop cover of Whitney Houston’s legendary ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ does feature as the official 2020 Global Pride Song, with all revenue from the song going to the Global Pride organization.
From the start, the trio have been passionate about diversity and inclusion, and to accompany their cover the music video consists of dance-contributions from professional and amateur LGBTQIA+ dancers from around the world, as well as footage from KEiiNO’s performance at Madrid and Oslo Pride. Give it a watch here:
5. Nevena – ‘Ljubav u bojoma’ (Serbia 2013/19)
Nevena has always had faultless vocals as shown with both of her Eurovision performances for Serbia, however latest release ‘Ljubav u bojoma’ shows a different side to her.
Her new release is much more contemporary than her previous ballads, with that prominent 80s synth vibe which has had a huge resurgence in popularity. The sound doesn’t feel far away from The Weeknd track ‘Blinding Lights’ which has obviously been massively successful.
Nevena shows her talent within the composition, with her writing both the music and lyrics to the song whilst also recording all of her own backing vocals which add the multi-dimensional levels to the track. Nevena also looks absolutely beautiful in the music video, which you can watch here:
4. Dotter – ‘Backfire’ (Sweden NF 2018/20)
Despite always being successful within her home nation of Sweden, Dotter shot back to prominence internationally earlier this year with her incredible Melodifestivalen performance of ‘Bulletproof’. Despite missing out on the win at the Friends Arnea by the smallest of margins, Dotter has released her follow-up ‘Backfire’ which definitely has her signature pop sounds.
One of Dotter’s shining qualities is that unique voice and pronunciation, which instantly makes her songs recognisable. ‘Backfire’ has a killer chorus and bucketloads of drama which makes for a fantastic end result. Speaking of her latest single;
“I wrote the song together with my guy Dino. We wrote it on an acoustic guitar at first, with the melodies coming very fast. Then I sat down for a bit and worked on the words, that’s usually how my lyrics come about. For a year, I had been carrying around a lot of heavy stuff that I needed to write about, so the lyrics for ‘Backfire’ were very clear and direct to me.”
– Dotter
Give the music video a watch here:
3. Hurricane x MC Stojan – ‘Tuturutu’ (Serbia 2020)
Girl group Hurricane – consisting of Sanja Vučić, Ivana Nikolić and Ksenija Knežević – have once again delivered a summer filled Balkan banger for their fans having teamed up with MC Stojan for ‘Tuturutu’.
Earlier this year, Hurricane won Serbian national selection show Beovizija with their pop song ‘Hasta la Vista’. This song also commands an equally powerful dance routine and it’s obvious from the second that the Hurricane girls jump in the police car to chase down the speeding MC Stojan that they mean business.
The song shoots tropical beats and fast-flowing ‘Tuturutu’ at us and the video is equally as memorable. Give it a watch here;
The girls are yet to be confirmed for Eurovision 2021 however unofficial sources have suggested that they will be announced as the internally selected artist for Serbia at the 2021 contest in Rotterdam.
2. Damir Kedžo – ‘Nedodirljiva’ (Croatia 2020)
Damir Kedžo jumped to our attention back in February when he won Croatia’s national selection Dora with the majestic ballad ‘Divlji Vjetre’. I think we were all shook at how strong his voice was, and how the song continued to build throughout before the huge climax at the end.
I think we were even more shocked when he released the dance remix for his Eurovision 2020 track, showing Europe just how versatile of an artist he is. His follow-up single, ‘Nedodirljiva’ continues to build off that platform.
He offers us summer vibes with tropical beats on this mid-tempo pop track. Despite it being a quicker pace than ‘Divlji Vjetre’, his voice sounds naturally powerful on the track, still providing that spark he gives.
We also have to add that Damir is looking absolutely incredible in the official music video too. Check it out or yourself:
1. Hanna Ferm – ‘Sweet Temptation’ (Sweden NF 2019-20)
Hanna Ferm debuted at Melodifestivalen last year and a year later she has two Top 4s in the final under her belt! As her follow-up to ‘Brave’, Hanna has released ‘Sweet Temptation’. Whilst ‘Brave’ feels like a very typical Melodifestivalen song, this release breaks down those cliche barriers.
For us this has absolutely been the serve of the summer to date. This honestly could’ve challenged for the win and if she comes back to Melodifestivalen in the future, we’re hoping she brings something closer to this. That disco beat, the saxophone, the hook. Everything about this is absolutely perfect.
‘Sweet Temptation’ is written by Hanna Ferm herself, alongside Dotter and Dino Medanhodzic, meaning Dotter has got in to our Top 10 this month a grand total of three times.
Hanna, clearly knowing that we were going to post this now, has also released a music video for the track which is equally as exquisite. You can watch it below:
We hope you enjoyed our look at some of the summer new releases around the Eurovision world. You can enjoy them all in one place with our YouTube and Spotify playlists below. See you next month!