Dagny (singer)

Dagny began her music career performing locally in Tromsø. She wrote songs and performed with friend June Cecile Egerton, forming the duo 'June & Dagny.'[8] After building a solid reputation in her hometown, Dagny moved to the United Kingdom in 2010,[2] with June remaining in Tromsø. Dagny stated her move was in "the spirit of adventure."[6] In retrospect she stated she felt lucky to experiment with music in her hometown, "[playing] live in peace for years before getting exposed to outside pressure."[9]

Dagny initially resided in Liverpool, before settling in London the following year.[8] She began performing at small club circuits and pop-up events with her partner at the time Richard Craker.[2] She released a handful of acoustic and folk-pop orientated songs under the EP Things We'll Never Say (2010).[8][10]

By 2012 Dagny was traveling and performing between London and Tromsø, while also working part time in a clothes shop, wine bar and elderly home.[11] She garnered positive attention from local press.[8] The same year she landed significant roles as warm-up support for Elton John during the Vinter-Døgnvill festival[12] and Sting for a performance in Bangkok.[13]

In 2014 she went on to play at the UK's Isle of Wight festival,[14] and also landed a supporting warm-up role for Bryan Adams during a tour of Austria.[15][16]

Dagny performing live at The Troubadour in Los Angeles on May 3, 2018

By 2015 Dagny described how she felt her music career had stalled, stating "things weren't really going anywhere."[1] She subsequently enrolled in university in Tromsø to undertake a degree in digital media design.[1][16] After studying for six months, she returned to music following encouragement from her family.[6]

In the autumn of 2015 Dagny recorded song "Backbeat."[11] Described as having a "pounding indie-pop vibe",[1] it quickly caught the attention of Zane Lowe at Apple Music's Beats 1 station. The song then appeared on Spotify's New Music playlist, achieving 300,000 plays in a few days.[11][2] By mid-2016 the song had accrued over 20 million plays on Spotify.[11][17] The acoustic version of the song went on to feature in the Grey's Anatomy episode "True Colors."[18]

As a result of the song's success, Dagny received contracts with the record companies Propeller (covering Scandinavia) and Republic (for the rest of the world).[8] Rob Stevenson said of her, "Backbeat immediately aroused our attention, and after a showcase in New York, our entire company fell in love with her."[19] Following this, she was handpicked to play at the industry festivals Eurosonic, by:Larm and Trondheim Calling.[8] In the same year, "Backbeat" was nominated for Song of the Year under Spellemann, while Dagny herself was nominated for Newcomer of the Year.[8][20] Later in 2016, Dagny released her follow-up single "Fool's Gold", which was the fourth most played on the Norwegian radio station P3.[8] The same year she released her EP, Ultraviolet.[21] The release won praise from both Norwegian and British publications,[8] with The Guardian describing it as an "exuberant but pensive riot of pounding drums, live instrumentation and just enough electronic flourishes to give it a modern edge, combined with some truly extraordinary songwriting."[11]

In 2017 Dagny released the additional singles "Wearing Nothing" and "Love You Like That," garnering her international recognition as 'One To Watch' for 2017 from both Billboard[22] and VEVO.[23] Dagny also undertook a cover of Rachel Steven's version of "More More More" which was used by Target in a commercial campaign introducing its line of new products in the fall of 2017.[24] Following her growing success, Dagny embarked on a number of collaborations, releasing singles with LCAW and NOTD.

The singles "That Feeling When" and "Used To You" were released in 2018, alongside a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song "Landslide." Dagny also partnered with Seeb for the single "Drink About", which was streamed over 200 million times and topped Norwegian charts.[4]

In 2019 Dagny collaborated on a number of singles, including "Turn" with The Wombats and "Hit Your Heart" with Steve Aoki. The latter proved popular on club circuits, with Harper's Bazaar praising the song, urging readers to "add [it] to your weekend party playlist ASAP."[25] The same year Dagny also was credited as a songwriter on Katy Perry's release "Never Really Over",[26] which interpolated her single "Love You Like That".[1] "Never Really Over" was a Top 10 hit across North America and Europe, becoming certified platinum in 2021.[27]

In parallel with her releases, Dagny began establishing herself as staple performer on Norway's live music and festival scene. She frequently played popular festival spots at Øyafestivalen, Stavernfestivalen and Bergenfest[28] and performed to sold-out shows across Norway, Europe, North America and Asia.[28]

During this period Dagny was nominated a total of five times for the prestigious Spellemann Awards[20] with her songs "Backbeat", "Wearing Nothing" and "Drink About" being nominated for Årets Låt (Song of the Year),[20] and she herself being nominated for Årets Nykommer (Newcomer of the Year) and Årets Låtskriver (Songwriter of the Year).[20]

Dagny performing live at Sentrum Scene in Oslo on March 11, 2022

After a successful series of singles, Dagny left Republic to develop her own label, Little Daggers.[2] Dagny stated her reasoning for this was to have more freedom with developing an album.[29]

Dagny released her debut album Strangers / Lovers in late 2020. The album launched in two parts, reflecting the different phases of a romantic relationship and the associated nostalgic feelings,[30] with Dagny describing how "the idea of going from strangers to lovers and then back to strangers is brutal."[29] Side A (which was first released in May 2020) tracks the beginnings of a relationship, with bright and upbeat songs like "Come Over" and "Somebody."[30] Side B released later in the year (October 2020) and had a more melancholic focus relating to the end of a relationship, as evident in the tracks "Please Look At Me" and "It's Only A Heartbreak."[30] Thematically Dagny also stated she was inspired by the long periods of day and night in northern Norway, stating "I wanted to make something that had both a light and a dark side. Side A is upbeat like summer, while Side B feels more like Autumn.”[29] Additionally, a number of the songs were inspired by relationship elements in old films and TV shows that Dagny enjoyed growing up.[29] The song "Coulda Woulda Shoulda" is based on the episode of the same name from the American TV series Sex And The City (Season 4, Episode 11),[29] while the song "It's Only A Heartbreak" is based on the classic film Casablanca.[29] Launching to acclaim,[1] Strangers / Lovers was described as "one of 2020's most assured debuts."[1] The album peaked at #2 on the Norwegian Albums Top 40.[31] The second song of the album, "Somebody", went on to win Årets Låt (Song of the Year) for P3 Gull 2020.[3]

Dagny went on to star in Season 2 of the Netflix series Home for Christmas in December 2020 as the character Lisa.[32] The acoustic version of her hit single "Somebody" and the song "Bye Bye Baby" from Strangers / Lovers also made appearances in the show.

In January 2021 Dagny performed her catalogue with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK) to celebrate its 75th birthday.[33]

Dagny co-performed the song "Pretty" in December 2021 with fellow Norwegian artist Astrid S for the soundtrack to the romantic comedy The Hating Game (2021).[34] The song peaked at #10 on the Norwegian Singles Top 20. Her song "Somebody" also formed part of the soundtrack.[34]

In June 2022, Dagny released the upbeat "Brightsider", described as "jubilant, optimistic pop at its best."[35] Dagny went on to release "Highs & Lows" in October 2022. The stripped back ballad diverged from previous synth and anthemic sounds, with Dagny describing the love song as "one of the most raw"[36] she has ever performed, adding "I hope this song is gonna feel like a warm hug for someone who needs it.”[36]

In November 2022, Dagny collaborated with Kygo on the "cathartic breakup"[37] synth-pop song "Lonely Together" as part of the LP Thrill of the Chase.

Dagny released "Heartbreak In The Making" in April 2023. The song peaked at #19 on the Norwegian Singles Top 20[38] and launched to acclaim, described as a "soaring pop creation"[39] with "Shakespearean"[40] lyricism. This was followed by the release of "Same Again (For Love)" on the 16th June 2023[41] which was described as a "glittering synth" track.[42] Her latest song "Ray-Bans" was released the 8th September 2023.[43] Dagny has stated this inspired more by melancholic pop, stating " I hope it can soundtrack the melancholia of the autumn, for those who might need it.”[44]

Dagny played London's 'Mighty Hoopla' festival on the 2nd June 2023[45] and supported Sting on his My Songs tour, playing at Bedford Park in June 2023[46] and Cardiff castle on 2nd July.[47] She is also set to play her largest headline show to date at Oslo Spektrum in November 2023.[48]

Dagny has stated she hopes to complete a second studio album by the turn of 2024.[49] It is planned to be released as a trilogy of mini-albums, the first of which entitled ELLE will contain 8 tracks including "Heartbreak In The Making," "Same Again (For Love) and "Ray-Bans."[44]