sixten releases “Say It Again” via TEN Records on October 9. The guitar-driven, melodic folk-pop song leaves behind the longing and breakups of the two previous singles in favor of the happiness of finding the right person. The duo describes the theme as the moment when someone who had almost given up after a long search for love unexpectedly finds a relationship that brings both overwhelming joy and a sense of calm.
For Tova Strandell, the song is a declaration of love to her fiancée. She says that the line, “No one ever told me the truth, say it again,” is about experiencing true love for the first time and wanting her partner to keep expressing it. Her story gives the song a personal foundation: after many years of dating people who weren’t right for her, she describes how she finally feels at home with this woman.
This is the third single from the collaboration with Andreas Mattsson, known from Popsicle, which began in 2025. The previous singles were “California” and “Can’t Stop Crying”, on which he also participated. The songwriting started with a chord progression and melody that he played on acoustic guitar. They wanted to set aside sad stories and minor keys for a while and opted for a high tempo with a clear major feel.
Once the theme was set, much of the lyrics came naturally. The duo still describes a careful revision process, where they take their time to make the words feel complete. The aforementioned collaborator and singer shares songwriting credits with Sixten Strandell and Jonatan Lahti. The latter also produced the recording together with Jacob Werner. Gustav Brunn did the mastering.
The sibling duo has since 2014 created melodic, melancholic pop with elements of folk tradition and Americana. They first recorded under the name Strandels and debuted with the EP “Chance of Rain” in 2016. Among the following singles are “Need Your Love”, “Love on Repeat”, and “Slip”; the latter has nearly ten million streams on Spotify.
In the years after their debut, they toured throughout Sweden, including with Per Gessle in the summer of 2017. During the same period, they also wrote and performed music in the USA and England.
The switch to the current name came in 2024 with the EP “Misemotional”. Songs about joy, sorrow, and confusion took on a ‘90s-tinged country-pop sound.
