03/02/10: ERIK HASSLE- Hurtful

With the style of a male La Roux and a voice similar to OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, Swedish singer/composer Erik Hassle looks set to make waves on the British music scene. To kick start what he aims to be a successful career comes his debut song, 'Hurtful', which has already seen success in his home country.

'Hurtful' is a song told from the heart, and Hassle brilliantly utilises emotion through his lyrics. The lyrics, in fact, are genius ('you don't know what you got, til you're missing it alot, I had to go throw it away;'), as is the electropop backing feel which really gives this heartfelt song some personality. Although the song fails to be upbeat and you start to feel that Hassle's voice is perhaps on the cheesy side, 'Hurtful' is a great effort of a debut. Like it or not, this song tempts you to listen to more of what Hassle has in store.

However, it's hard to see success in this song. Hassle has entered the music world in a huge market, and with increasing competition it's difficult to see him thrive. But despite this, 'Hurtful' is as radio friendly as a song can get, and it's almost guaranteed that better is to come from this brand new artist.