The world of EDM and electro-pop is about to get a new favorite. The Norwegian music producer Wiese has in record time made a name for himself as a songwriter, DJ and producer in this popular genre.
Like his Norwegian music colleagues Alan Walker and Kygo, Wiese or Trygve Wiese-Haugland which is his real name, also grew up in the city of Bergen. This city, also known as “the rainy city”, clearly nurtures a music that engages people far beyond city and country borders.
During the first half of 2020, Wiese has already released four songs and gained more than ten million plays on Spotify. About half of these plays are from Norway while the other half are distributed across the rest of the world.
So, what is it that makes Wiese’s music so popular?
All of Wiese’s songs are characterized by catchy melodies, pulsating rhythms and great vocal productions. Although all the songs can be categorized under the EDM and electro-pop genre, they are still unique enough to not become predictable and boring.
While Wiese in “How Can I Live” turns to a synth-heavy future bass-like mix with a female vocal, he turns to a groovy funk-like approach with a male vocalist in “I Fell”. His biggest hit so far, “Never Let Me Go”, however, sees him turning to a Latin-influenced reggaeton beat combining.
These variations in rhythm and style outlined here, gives him a broad appeal and a wide fan base. At the same time he stays true to his overall idea about catchy underlying melodies and great productions, so not matter which way he turns in terms of rhythmic style, a great portion of fans will like it.
His songs are relatively short, about 2.5 minutes, which means that the listener get to the good parts quickly, leaving little time to get bored. Furthermore, Wiese only use some high-quality vocalists and he manages to produce the songs in a way that make the vocals shine. It is actually not very easy to highlight both vocals and the energy in the instrumentals, but this art is something Wiese really seems to master.
There is no doubt that the music production here is on a par with the best actors in the genre. Wiese releases all music on its own independent label and does all associated work himself. Eventually, he will probably benefit from leaving more of this to larger and professional players but until then it is impressive to see what he can accomplish by himself.
With over ten million plays in its first half year, there is every reason to assume that Wiese is facing an international breakthrough. Several new songs are expected soon, and it will be exciting to see what this artist has in store for 2021.
Who knows, eventually maybe it is Kygo and Alan Walker who has to look to Wiese for inspiration, and not the other way around.
