Caroline af Ugglas
Gritty, soulful vocals that feel like a raw nerve exposed. Swedish blues-pop with a Janis Joplin heart and a choir conductor's sense of scale.
Gritty, soulful vocals that feel like a raw nerve exposed. Swedish blues-pop with a Janis Joplin heart and a choir conductor's sense of scale.
Caroline af Ugglas sounds like the morning after a night of hard truths. Her voice is her most striking instrument: a raspy, gravelly, and deeply emotive force that prioritizes raw feeling over technical perfection. It is music that sits comfortably in the cracks between soul, blues, and Swedish pop, often anchored by warm piano chords and a sense of theatrical vulnerability.
What makes her distinctive is her refusal to polish away the rough edges. While many of her contemporaries in the Swedish pop scene aim for crystalline production, af Ugglas embraces a 'Joplin-esque' grit that feels lived-in and authentic. Her background in choral music often bleeds into her arrangements, creating a unique tension between her singular, ragged lead vocals and the expansive, harmonious backing of a choir.
Start with 'Joplin på svenska' to hear her translate iconic blues-rock energy into her native tongue, or 'Så gör jag det igen' for her most successful blend of soul-searching lyrics and catchy, albeit bruised, pop sensibilities.
Caroline Thérese af Ugglas Liljedahl (born 7 April 1972) is a Swedish singer, artist and chorister. Af Ugglas created the format for a televised choir contest, which was picked up by NBC in the United States as the show Clash of the Choirs, and by the Seven Network in Australia as Battle of the Choirs.
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