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Espen Lind

{{Short description|Norwegian record producer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{multiple issues|

{{More footnotes needed|date=August 2010}}

{{BLP sources|date=April 2022}}

}}

{{Infobox musical artist

|image=Espen_Lind.jpg |

| name = Espen Lind

| image_size =

| alias =

| origin = Tromsø, Norway

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1971|5|13}}

| genre = {{flatlist|

}}

| occupation = {{flatlist|

  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • singer

}}

| years_active = 1995–present

| label = Universal

| associated_acts = {{flatlist|

}}

| website =

| caption =

}}

Espen Lind (born 13 May 1971) is a Norwegian record producer, songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is one half of the production team Espionage, and together with his long time partner Amund Bjorklund he has written and/or produced songs for artists like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Train, Jennifer Hudson, Emeli Sande and Selena Gomez. Espen has also been a mentor on the Norwegian version of The Voice.

Solo records

Espen Lind released his first solo album, Mmm...Prepare To Be Swayed, in 1995 under the moniker, 'Sway'. Only released in Norway, it received mixed reviews and sold approximately 5,000 copies. His commercial breakthrough came in 1997 with the single "When Susannah Cries" which was a hit in several European and Latin American countries, including Norway where it was number one for six weeks. His second album Red went on to sell more than 100,000 copies in Norway, and 350,000 copies worldwide, earning Lind three Norwegian Grammy awards (Spellemannprisen) in 1998, including Artist of the Year.

2000 saw Lind releasing his third album, This Is Pop Music, and the singles "Black Sunday" and "Life Is Good". The album also contains a duet, "Where the Lost Ones Go," with Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø. The album reached gold status in Norway but was generally perceived to be a commercial disappointment compared to its predecessor. After a 3-year break Lind released a new single, "Unloved," in December 2004, followed by the album April, in January 2005.

In 2006, Lind, together with fellow Norwegian artists Kurt Nilsen (World Idol winner), Alejandro Fuentes and Askil Holm released the concert album Hallelujah Live, featuring songs from the foursome's solo records as well as several songs by other artists, most notably a cover version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".

Lind released a new single, "Scared of Heights," in May 2008. His fifth album titled Army of One was released on 23 June 2008.

In January 2009, he received the award "Årets Spelleman" (artist of the year) at the Norwegian Grammy Awards.

Writing and producing

File:Espen Lind 2.jpg

Espen Lind has written and produced music for a number of artist, such as "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé and "Drive By" and "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train. Together with writing partner Amund Bjørklund in the production team Espionage he has also written and/or produced songs for artists Taylor Swift, Lionel Richie, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown and Leona Lewis. Morten Harket covered Lind's "Scared of Heights" for his album Out of My Hands. In 2025, Lind composed and produced the soundtrack for the TV-show "Requiem for Selina".https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35404666/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_smhttps://anti.as/requiem-for-selina

= Selected credits =

Discography

The following is a discography of albums and singles released by Norwegian music artist Espen Lind.

=Albums=

class="wikitable"
StatisticsSingles
style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|Mmm... Prepare To Be Swayed

  • Released as Sway
  • Released: 1995
  • Peak chart positions:{{Cite web |url=http://lista.vg.no/artist_info.php?ArtistOp=show&artistId=934 |title=Sway – VG-lista. Offisielle hitlister fra og med 1958 |access-date=30 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126102156/http://lista.vg.no/artist_info.php?ArtistOp=show&artistId=934 |archive-date=26 November 2005 |url-status=dead }}
  • # 29 NOR
  • Label: MCA Records

| style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

  • "Yum Yum Gimme Some"
  • "Blast Yer Brain"
style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|Red
  • Released as Sway
  • Released: 20 May 1997
  • Peak chart positions:
  • # 3 NOR
  • Label: Universal

    • | style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

    style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|Red
  • Re-release of the second Sway album
  • Released: 1997
  • Peak chart positions:[http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Espen+Lind&titel=Red&cat=a Espen Lind – Red – norwegiancharts.com][https://archive.today/20141018154332/http://www.officialcharts.de/suche.asp?search=espen+lind&x=0&y=0&cat=a&country=de charts.de – Albums – Espen Lind]
  • # 3 NOR
  • # 15 SWI
  • # 19 GER
  • # 25 AUT
  • # 31 BEL (VL)
  • # 50 NL
  • Label: Universal

    • | style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

    style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|This Is Pop Music
  • Released: 2001
  • Peak chart positions:
  • # 3 NOR
  • Label: Universal

    • | style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

    style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|April
  • Released: 2005
  • Peak chart positions:
  • # 3 NOR
  • Label: Universal

    • | style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

    • "Unloved"
    • "Look Like Her"
    • "Million Miles Away"
    style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|Hallelujah – Live
  • with Kurt Nilsen, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes
  • Released: 12 June 2006
  • Peak chart positions:
  • # 1 NOR
  • Label: SonyBMG/Universal

    • | style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

    style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|Army of One
  • Released: 2008
  • Peak chart positions:
  • # 1 NOR
  • Label: Universal

    • | style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

    • "Scared of Heights"
    • "Sweet Love"
    style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|Hallelujah – Live Volume 2
  • with Kurt Nilsen, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes
  • Released: 2009
  • Peak chart positions:
  • # 1 NOR
  • Label: SonyBMG/Universal

    • | style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

    style="width:330px; text-align:left;"|Requiem for Selina - Original Series Soundtrack
  • with Espen Lind, The Norwegian Radio Orchestra
  • Released: 2025
  • Peak chart positions:
  • n/a
  • Label: Vitamin Oslo/Universal

    • | style="width:200px; text-align:left;"|

    =Singles=

    class="wikitable"
    rowspan="2"| Year

    !rowspan="2"| Title

    !colspan="10"|Chart positions

    !rowspan="2"| Album

    style="width:35px;"| NOR
    [http://norwegiancharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Espen+Lind norwegiancharts.com – Discography Espen Lind]

    ! style="width:35px;"| AUT
    [http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Espen+Lind&titel=When+Susannah+Cries&cat=s Espen Lind – When Susannah Cries – Charts]

    ! style="width:35px;"| BEL (VL)

    ! style="width:35px;"| BEL (WA)

    ! style="width:35px;"| FRA

    ! style="width:35px;"| GER
    [https://archive.today/20141018154326/http://www.officialcharts.de/suche.asp?search=espen+lind&x=6&y=8&cat=s&country=de charts.de – Singles – Espen Lind]

    ! style="width:35px;"| NL
    [http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Espen+Lind&titel=When+Susannah+Cries&cat=s dutchcharts.nl – Espen Lind – When Susannah Cries]

    ! style="width:35px;"| SWE

    ! style="width:35px;"| SWI

    ! style="width:35px;"| UK
    [http://zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_L.HTM Chart Log UK1994–2010 – DJ Steve L. – LZ Love – Espen Lind]

    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|1995

    |align="left"|"Yum Yum Gimme Some" (as Sway)

    | style="text-align:center;"|17

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"| Mmm... Prepare To Be Swayed

    align="left"|"American Love" (as Sway)

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| Red

    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"|1997

    |align="left"|"Baby You're So Cool" (as Sway)

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    align="left"|"When Susannah Cries" (as Sway)

    | style="text-align:center;"|1

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    align="left"|"When Susannah Cries" [new release]

    | style="text-align:center;"|1

    | style="text-align:center;"|10

    | style="text-align:center;"|2

    | style="text-align:center;"|21

    | style="text-align:center;"|41

    | style="text-align:center;"|9

    | style="text-align:center;"|10

    | style="text-align:center;"|34

    | style="text-align:center;"|5

    | style="text-align:center;"|185

    | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| Red [new version]

    align="left"|"Lucky For You"

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;"|82

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    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"|1998

    |align="left"|"American Love"

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"|2000

    |align="left"|"Black Sunday"

    | style="text-align:center;"|4

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| This Is Pop Music

    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"|2001

    |align="left"|"Where the Lost Ones Go" (with Sissel Kyrkjebø)

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    | style="text-align:center;"|90

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    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"|2002

    |align="left"|"Life Is Good"

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

    | style="text-align:center;"|99

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    style="text-align:center;"|2004

    |align="left"|"Unloved"

    | style="text-align:center;"|1

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| April

    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|2005

    |align="left"|"Look Like Her"

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    align="left"|"Million Miles Away"

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

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    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|2006

    |align="left"|"Hallelujah" (with Kurt Nilsen, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes)

    | style="text-align:center;"|1

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| Hallelujah – Live

    align="left"|"The Boys Of Summer" (with Kurt Nilsen, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes)

    | style="text-align:center;"|12

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|2008

    |align="left"|"Scared of Heights"

    | style="text-align:center;"|1

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    | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| Army of One

    align="left"|"Sweet Love"

    | style="text-align:center;"|N/A

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    style="text-align:center;"|2009

    |align="left"|"With or Without You" (with Kurt Nilsen, Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes)

    | style="text-align:center;"|1

    | style="text-align:center;"|—

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    | style="text-align:center;"| Hallelujah – Live Volume 2

    References

    {{reflist}}

    External links

    {{portal|Norway|Music}}

    • {{IMDb name|0511185}}
    • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717125507/http://www.the-abyss.u-net.com/html/biographyEspenLind.html Biography Espen Lind] – at Universal
    • [http://www.espenlind.no/ Espen Lind] – official website

    {{s-start}}

    {{s-ach|aw}}

    {{s-bef | before = Unni Wilhelmsen and Ivar Eidem}}

    {{s-ttl | title = Recipient of the best Pop solo artist Spellemannprisen | years = 1997}}

    {{s-aft | after = Bertine Zetlitz}}

    {{s-bef | before = No Artist of the year award}}

    {{s-ttl | title = Recipient of the Artist of the year Spellemannprisen | years = 1997}}

    {{s-aft | after = Vidar Busk}}

    {{s-bef | before = Hellbillies}}

    {{s-ttl | title = Recipient of the Spellemannprisen
    as Spellemann of the Year | years = 2008}}

    {{s-aft | after = Alexander Rybak}}

    {{s-end}}

    {{Authority control}}

    {{DEFAULTSORT:Lind, Espen}}

    Category:1971 births

    Category:APRA Award winners

    Category:English-language singers from Norway

    Category:Living people

    Category:Norwegian multi-instrumentalists

    Category:Norwegian pop singers

    Category:Norwegian songwriters

    Category:Musicians from Tromsø

    Category:Spellemannprisen winners

    Category:21st-century Norwegian singers

    Category:21st-century Norwegian male singers