Sway

Finishing third on Swedish Idol as a 17-year-old isn’t the recommended fast track to pop credibility, but most pop stars don’t possess Tove Styrke’s determination and prodigious songwriting gift. She’s been shaping her own hits since her post-Idol debut, and, aged 25, reaches album three bearing the same brand of smart, spare, and deliciously catchy pop that sparked compatriot Robyn’s artistic renaissance. Take “Mistakes”: Built around a staccato robo-hook you’ll struggle to dislodge, it’s deliciously self-aware. “But really I should get some me time/Before I do something I can’t rewind,” she warns herself. But she’s defenseless. And we’re defenseless to pop this good.