Smith & Thell
Smith & Thell on stage during Stavernfestivalen in 2016
Smith & Thell on stage during Stavernfestivalen in 2016
Background information
OriginHelsingborg, Sweden
Genres
Years active2012–present
LabelsPlayground Music
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 Records, 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 won the Internationalen Songwriting-Wettbewerbs (ISC) with their song Goliath in 2021.[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 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 Grammis for Composers of the Year, and in 2021, they won a Rockbjörnen for Best Group 2021.[8]

Musical style

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, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions
SWE
[10]
Soulprints 2017 —
Pixie's Parasol 2021 3
[11]
Acoustic in Isby 2021 —
"—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

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 singles
"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)		 7126 Pixie's Parasol
"Hotel Walls" 2019 21
[16]		9—
"Yatzy" 2020 ———
"Goliath" 37
[18]		12—
  • GLF: 2× Platinum[14]
"Year of the Young" 58
[19]		10—
"Radioactive Rain" 2021 ———
"Nangilima" 52
[20]		 ——
"Pixie's Parasol"[21] —[upper-alpha 1]—— Non-album singles
"Planet Mars" 2022 ———
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" ———
"I Feel It in the Wind" —[upper-alpha 2]——
"We Were in Love" 2023 ———
"—" 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.[22]
  2. ↑ "I Feel It in the Wind" did not enter the Swedish Singellista Chart, but peaked at number four on the Swedish Heatseeker Chart.[23]

Awards

  • 2015 Denniz Pop Awards - "Rookie Artist of the Year"[24]
  • 2016 Musexpo in Los Angeles - "New Emerging International Artist"[25]
  • 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". 12 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "Discogs: Smith & Thell". Discogs.
  4. ↑ "Peter Kvint och Smith & Thell vinner Grand Prize". 4 May 2021.
  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. 22 August 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  9. ↑ "Atwood Magazine: Lost in space". 23 June 2021.
  10. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sverigetopplistan – Smith & Thell" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  15. ↑ "Albums and singles certified Platinum in 2020". ZPAV. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 41". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  17. ↑ "Albums and singles certified Gold in 2021". ZPAV. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  18. ↑ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 18". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  19. ↑ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 34". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  20. ↑ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 6" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  21. ↑ "Pixie's Parasol - Single". Apple Music. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  22. ↑ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 43". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  23. ↑ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 38". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  24. ↑ "Pristagare i Denniz Pop Awards 2015: Smith & Thell och Julia Karlsson & Anton Rundberg".
  25. ↑ "Musikindustrin 2016-02-10". 10 February 2016.
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