Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
All Music Guide:
A Spellemannprisen-winning Norwegian pop artist who dazzled his homeland with his second album, 1997's Red, Espen Lind also found success in the United States as a co-writer behind singles like Beyoncé's 2007 smash hit "Irreplaceable." Lind broke into the Norwegian pop scene in 1995 performing under the name Sway. His debut album, Mmm...Prepare to Be Swayed, sold poorly but garnered rave reviews from the Norwegian music press, which was enough to earn Lind a recording deal with Universal. Billing himself under his given name, Lind returned two years later with the lovelorn jangle rock single "When Susannah Cries." The track shot to number one on the Norwegian charts, and made its way into the Top Five throughout Europe and Latin America. Lind's second full-length album, Red, emerged soon after; the release sold over 600,000 copies worldwide and earned Lind a Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) for Artist of the Year. Red's success proved to be a tough act to follow; Lind's third effort, This Is Pop Music, failed to sell as well as its predecessor, and it was four years before he released another album (2005's April). Lind more or less devoted himself to writing and producing songs for other artists during this period (notably "Irreplaceable"), but a new album was rumored to be in the works for 2007.
Wikipedia:
Espen Lind, (born 13 May 1971), is a Norwegian songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is one half of the production team Espionage.
Solo records
Espen Lind released his first solo album, Mmm...Prepare To Be Swayed, in 1995 under the moniker, 'Sway'. Only released in Norway, it received mixed reviews and sold approximately 5,000 copies. His commercial breakthrough came in 1997 with the single "When Susannah Cries" which was a hit in several European and Latin American countries, including Norway where it was number one for six weeks. His second album Red went on to sell more than 100,000 copies in Norway, and 350,000 copies worldwide, earning Lind three awards at the 1998 Norwegian Grammy's (Spellemannprisen) including Artist of the Year.
2000 saw Lind releasing his third album, This Is Pop Music, and the singles "Black Sunday" and "Life Is Good". The album also contains a duet, "Where the Lost Ones Go," with Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø. The album reached gold status in Norway but was generally perceived to be a commercial disappointment compared to its predecessor. After a four year break Lind released a new single, "Unloved," in December 2004, followed by the album April, in January 2005.
In 2006 Lind, together with fellow Norwegian artists Kurt Nilsen (World Idol winner), Alejandro Fuentes and Askil Holm released the concert album Hallelujah Live, featuring songs from the foursome's solo records as well as several songs by other artists, most notably a cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".
Lind released a new single, "Scared Of Heights," in May 2008. His fifth album titled Army Of One was released on the 23rd June 2008.
In January 2009 he received the award "Årets Spelleman" (artist of the year) at the Norwegian Grammy Awards (Spellemannprisen).
Writing and producing
During the past few years Espen Lind has done a lot of writing and producing, most notably as co-writer of both "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé and "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. Together with writing partner Amund Bjørklund in the production team Espionage he has also written and/or produced songs for artists Lionel Richie, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown and Leona Lewis.
