– Unreal and incredibly cool!

We had a little chat with the songwriters behind the most played song on Norwegian radio last year.

Read TONO's transparency report here

What do you think about having the most played song on the radio?

– We really didn't see it coming when we were tearing our hair out mixing the song two weeks before it was due for release and were never satisfied, haha. It's unreal and incredibly cool!

Can you tell us a little about the story behind how the song came about?

– The song started as a short story that Jonas (Aden) was writing, about a girl's story and relationship to ballet. It was again inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl", and came to life on the piano one day out in a cabin in the woods in Norway. It was written very quickly, but we spent a long time getting the instrumentation right, and we had about seven musicians come in to play all sorts of instruments in the process.

What do you think is the secret to creating a radio hit?

– We think that is extremely abstract and different from artist to artist. For us, at least, authenticity is everything – and bringing out the artist's unique voice and soul trumps everything else. However, it is important that the arrangement is fairly effective and catchy with recurring themes.

What has been your biggest experience with this song so far?

– The biggest thing was perhaps the first time it was performed live, which was in front of 10,000 French people in a stadium, and with 4 million watching it live on TV. A completely surreal moment.

Have there been any memorable or strong moments associated with this song?

– To be honest, the response from people who love the song has been the strongest. It's so incredibly special to be able to form such a bond with a song, and not something we take for granted.

Here is an overview of the most played works on Norwegian radio in 2023 (taken from TONO's transparency report, which you can read here)