Mona & Maria are a new and talented duo from Oslo, who are widely tipped for a very bright future.
Twenty six year old Mona Andersen and twenty seven year old Maria Knudsen have been writing together for many years and had a couple of hits with their old band Bazooka Boppers. When the band split in 2010, Mona and Maria continued on their own. The writing they’ve done together was so good that Christian Engfelt (Cato Salsa Experience, Big Bang, The Turns etc.) got them into his studio in August to work on their debut full length.
The studio line-up is a who’s who of Norway’s top people; Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist, The National Bank, Jonas Alaska) on percussion. David Wallumrød (Jonas Alaska, Bjørn Eidsvåg) on keys. Emil Nikolaisen (Silver, Serena Maneesh), Knut Schreiner (Turboneger, Mirror Lakes, Kåre & The Cavemen) and Eivind Staxrud (Raga Rockers) all feature on guitar. Kaja Fjellberg Pettersen (Karpe Diem, Jens Carelius, Siri Nilsen) play cello with Bendik Brænne (Dum Dum Boys, Los Plantronics) and Hans Friis (Dum Dum Boys, Los Plantronics) playing brass.
Musically it is poetic, folky pop, with plenty of strong vocal harmonies, perhaps not a million miles from Sweden’s First Aid Kit with influences from legends like Judee Sill, Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell.
http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/11356
