WHO THE HELL IS?...

Highway to heaven: Folksy, sensitive, guitar-picking Swedish guy releases an album of folksy, sensitive, guitar-picking songs. The album gets lots of critical kudos in Sweden, but Swedish guy remains relatively unknown outside his home country. Until, that is, a major technology company uses one of the songs for its new ad campaign, and suddenly everybody's talking about this bright new talent. Sound familiar? But this is not José González we're talking about here - this is Tobias Froberg, and he'll be coming to Dublin in May to play a gig in Whelan's. By then, everyone in the audience will be able to hum along to his song When the Night Turns Cold, because they'll have heard it so often on the telly. They'll probably also know some of the other songs from his acclaimed new album, Somewhere in the City, such as God's Highway, and Forever Is Just a Word in a Lovesong.

Flat screen: Tobias Froberg started out as a journalist, writing music features for various magazines, but inside he harboured a secret desire to make folksy, sensitive, guitar-picking music for the masses. He was already moonlighting as a musician in various bands, and had written some songs, but it wasn't till he met up with an old schoolmate, Linus Larsson, that he decided to go ahead and commit his work to tape. In the summer of 2003, the pair set up recording equipment and drums in Tobias's house, and began work on the debut album, For Elizabeth Wherever She Is. The pair played, produced and arranged the album, and released it on their own label, Silence Records, in 2004. The album went on to earn an Album of the Year nomination in the Swedish indie equivalent of the Grammies, and Tobias went on two tours with his classical guitar-toting friend, José González.

Time frame: When Tobias and Linus went back into the home studio to record the follow-up to For Elizabeth , they became so immersed in their work that they went slightly behind schedule. "We must have spent over 100 days in the recording studio," recalls Froberg. "There are songs on the album that we worked with for over one and a half years. It's insane when I think of it. . . But we are really, really pleased with the result." The album gained Froberg an even bigger following of devoted fans, and its opening track, When the Night Turns Cold, attracted the attention of Panasonic, which used it in the ad campaign for Lumix digital cameras.

Magic tones: The album also caught the attention of Poptones mogul Alan McGee, who has signed up Froberg for the UK. Froberg has toured the US and also did a UK tour supporting Kathryn Williams. The two joined up for a duet of Homeward Bound by Froberg's hero, Paul Simon. (He also likes Paul McCartney, Carole King and The Beach Boys).