europopped

We've written about so many covers of 1980's Italian disco queen Sabrina Salerno's classic "Boys (Summertime Love)" over the years (everything from a Slovakian version to a Polish take on the tune), but nothing quite like this has come across our radar. Helsinki's Sansa has covered the song as an acoustic number and it's surprisingly, chillingly good. She released a version of her take on "Boys" last year, but more recently she went in on the tune with just a guitar for England's "Songs From The Shed" and there's video for the cover (see below). We are expecting big things from Sansa, by the way. Her official promo for "Savior/Waiting For The Sky," shot in Estonia, should drop this month. In the meantime, check this cool cover from the Finnish songstress followed by the original.

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OK Daco Junior isn't really new in 2012...his breakthrough came last year. But for Americans, Daco is basically brand new. Today, he released a killer video for a simply smashing song called "Like An Astronaut," and it could be a hit here, if anyone was able to properly promote it and/or if anyone cared that there is an awesome rapper in Finland as good as Tinie Tempah besides me. Daco made his breakthrough after releasing the debut single “Sane” in early 2011 under his own label Unidream Music. He then released a follow up single “Gravity," which hit the top spot in Helsinki for two weeks in a row and spent over 15 weeks near the top of the charts on Finland's national radio. Now, Daco is signed to Universal Music Finland and is working on his debut album Heartbeat Solo which is to be released very soon. Check out the Finnish freshness below...big like.

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Thanks to a Europopped reader from Finland for sending this in. DCX are a Eurodance trio, with lead singer Bettina boasting a background as a deejay (she also made her career debut as a singer in the Finnish Idol semifinals). Anyway, they say on their own Facebook page they are "one of Finland's best kept secrets" and they might be right--especially after this new song and video, "Erase You," has hit the web. DCX cite Abba as a major influence and have opened for names such as Pandora, Groove Coverage and September over the years. For an act that has been around over a decade, it's about time the band got a bit better known outside of Finland.

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Earlier this month one of Finland's best known musical exports, The Rasmus, released a video for "I'm A Mess" that's worth watching. Late last year, I wrote about Lauri Ylönen, the popular lead singer, from The Rasmus, when he dropped his just shy of insane solo video for "In The City" (that must be seen to be believed), but this clip is a bit more polished and tame. Regardless, "I'm A Mess" is likely a better song, with soaring pop melodies that recall several well-known U.S. and U.K. acts in parts (though this is really a rock ballad, of sorts, anyway). This promo for "I'm A Mess" was actually shot in Japan, carried out in cooperation with Finnish-Japanese design company. (h/t iltalehti)

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It's freezing in Finland on a Friday. But that's ok, because Laura Närhi's new clip is heating up Helsinki today. The singer, via Warner Music Finland, just uploaded a simply gorgeous-looking promo for her "Hetken Tie On Kevyt" and I can't stop watching it. Laura has some interesting history. Her father is a respected composer in the business for ages, while her mother worked for (and maybe still does work at) BMG in Finland. She's filmed videos before in Belgrade but it looks like this new clip was shot in her own (freezing) nordic nation. And thank God it was, because it's pretty to look at on multiple levels. This song is apparently on the soundtrack to a new Finnish film called "North" that opens in Feb (guessing some of the scenes in this clip are from that forthcoming movie). Sweeping and epic song.

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