Smith & Thell

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Smith & Thell
Smith & Thell at stage during Stavernfestivalen in 2016
Smith & Thell at stage during Stavernfestivalen in 2016
Background information
OriginHelsingborg, Sweden
Genres
Years active2012–present
LabelsPlayground Music
Associated actsJennifer Lopez, Ava Max, Rauw Alejandro
MembersMaria Jane Smith, Victor Thell

Smith & Thell are a pop/folk band based in Stockholm, Sweden. The duo, composed of Maria Smith (vocals, guitar) and Victor Thell (vocals, guitar, production), first met one another as young teenagers at a local music event in their hometown of Helsingborg in Southern Sweden.[1]

Their debut album Soulprints was released in April 2017 via the Nordic indie label, Playground Music.[2]

The follow up international hit single, "Forgive Me Friend", came in November 2018, and led the band to signing its first major label deal with the storied American label, Arista Recordings, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Smith & Thell's sophomore album, "Pixie's Parasol" came via Arista Recordings in 2021, and featured the hits "Forgive Me Friend", "Hotel Walls, "Year of the Young, and "Goliath. The duo went on to perform on stages across the world with other artists, including The Head and the Heart, Young the Giant, and Fitz and The Tantrums.[3]

Smith & Thell have simultaneously established themselves as one of Sweden's most sought-after songwriters and producer duos. They won the 2020 Swedish Grammy award for Composer of the Year, and their writing credits for major label artists, including Jennifer Lopez, Ava Max, Martin Garrix, Rauw Alejandro, Gryffin, Alan Walker, Maejor, NOTD, and R3HAB, account for over 3 Billion global streams.[4]

History[]

In 2015, they released the song "Statue", which was performed on the SVT Moraeus in the same year.[5] Also in 2015, the duo won the Denniz Pop Awards with Max Martin in the jury. In spring of 2016, they won Musexpo in Los Angeles in the category "New Emerging International Artist". The same year, influencer and music critic Bob Lefsetz placed "Statue" at number 16 on his list of the best songs of 2016 with the description, "An instant classic, you'll get this one immediately." The duo followed up "Statue" with the singles "Row" (2016), "February" (2017), and "Toast" (2017), before releasing their debut album Soulprints on May 12, 2017.[6]

The band's first major international breakthrough came in November 2018, with their hit single "Forgive Me Friend". The song has since been streamed over 85 million times and earned Platinum (3x) status in Sweden and Gold status in Norway. The hit reached #1 on Pop Radio in Sweden and Poland, Top 25 on U.S. Alternative Radio, and Top 10 on U.S. Triple A Radio. Smith & Thell’s follow-up 2019 single, "Hotel Walls", quickly shot to #1 on Swedish Pop Radio and has been streamed over 50 million times. It is certified Platinum in Sweden and Gold in Norway.[7] In 2020, Smith & Thell won a Swedish Grammi for Composers of the Year, and in 2021, they won a Rockbjörnen for Best Group 2021.[8]

Musical Style[]

Smith & Thell write highly emotive songs that are based on real experience and deal with the topics of passion and euphoria, love and hope, and loss and pain.

Smith has stated, “We don’t work towards making albums with one specific sound; it’s song-by-song written on the way while we live...these last years have been a rollercoaster of emotions: we lost a loved family member way too young, we went from being a couple to continuing the band as friends, our career took off for real, we toured the world…to just name a few things. So the album was written on the way while all these things happened.”

“We can’t seem to get away from the sharp emotional turns in our music... [we] travel from the lowest pitch black bottom to the euphoric highs."[9]

Discography[]

Albums[]

List of albums as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications
SWE
[10]
Soulprints 2017 —
Pixie's Parasol 2021 3
[11]

EPs[]

  • Statue (2016)
  • Telephone Wires (2018)

Singles[]

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
SWE
[10] 		POL
[12] 		US
Alt.
[13]
"Kill It with Love" 2012 — — — Non-album single
"Super DJ" 2013 — — —
"Illusion" 2014 — — —
"Hippie Van" — — —
"Statue (The Pills Song)" 2015 — — — Soulprints
"Row" 2016 — — —
"February" 2017 — — —
"Toast" — — —
"Somebody like You" — — —
"Dumb" 2018 — — — Non-album single
"Forgive Me Friend"
(featuring Swedish Jam Factory) 		7 1 26 Telephone Wires and Pixie's Parasol
"Hotel Walls" 2019 21
[16]		 9 — Pixie's Parasol
"Yatzy" 2020 — — —
"Goliath" 37
[19]		 12 —
"Year of the Young" 58
[21]		 10 —
"Radioactive Rain" 2021 — — —
"Nangilima" 52
[22]		 — —
"Pixie's Parasol"[23] —[A] — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Notes

  1. ^ "Pixie's Parasol" did not enter the Swedish Singellista Chart, but peaked at number 12 on the Swedish Heatseeker Chart.[24]

Awards[]

  • 2015 Denniz Pop Awards - "Rookie Artist of the Year"[25]
  • 2016 Musexpo in Los Angeles - "New Emerging International Artist"[26]
  • 2020 Swedish Grammis - Composers of the Year
  • 2021 Swedish Rockbjörnen - "Best Group 2021"

References[]

  1. ^ "GAFFA LIVE: Smith & Thell - Gävle Konserthus".
  2. ^ "Feature: The Energy and Emotion of Smith & Thell's Debut Soulprints".
  3. ^ "Discogs: Smith & Thell".
  4. ^ "Peter Kvint och Smith & Thell vinner Grand Prize".
  5. ^ "Jojk, pop och country när Kalle bjuder in till en ny säsong". svt.se. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  6. ^ "The Energy and Emotion of Smith & Thell's Debut 'Soulprints'". Atwood Magazine. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  7. ^ "Smith & Thell Spotify". spotify. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
  8. ^ "Smith & Thell vinner Årets grupp på Rockbjörnen". aftonbladet. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  9. ^ "Atwood Magazine: Lost in space".
  10. ^ a b "Discography Smith & Thell". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Veckolista Album, vecka 7". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  12. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in Poland:
  13. ^ "Alternative Songs: April 27, 2019". Billboard. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Årslista Singlar 2019". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Albums and singles certified Platinum in 2020". ZPAV. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 41". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Årslista Singlar 2020".
  18. ^ "Albums and singles certified Gold in 2021". ZPAV. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  19. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 18". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Årslista Singlar 2020".
  21. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 34". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 6" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  23. ^ "Pixie's Parasol - Single". Apple Music. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  24. ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 43". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  25. ^ "Pristagare i Denniz Pop Awards 2015: Smith & Thell och Julia Karlsson & Anton Rundberg".
  26. ^ "Musikindustrin 2016-02-10".

External links[]

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