Smerz

Smerz, made up of Norwegians Henriette Motzfeldt and Catharina Stoltenberg, has been developing a minimal, fragmented electronic pop since the mid-2010s, drawing on RnB, experimental music and prominent vocal harmonies. First noticed through a handful of tracks released online, the duo settled between Oslo and Copenhagen and joined the XL Recordings roster, where the EPs Okey (2016) and Have fun (2018) were released, establishing a language of sound collages, fractured rhythms and vocals that shift between speaking and singing. With the album Believer (2021), Smerz pushed further into intimate songwriting addressing relationships, boredom and everyday life within song-like structures crafted as small electronic pieces. Their second album, Big city life, released in 2025, continues this exploration through compositions that blend classical music influences, a slowed-down club aesthetic and direct pop formats. Smerz’s performances move between art institutions and nighttime stages, with appearances at venues such as Tate Modern and the MOCA Geffen, in clubs like Berghain and at European festivals, and sometimes include collaborations with visual artists and the Norwegian National Contemporary Dance Company, reinforcing the duo’s link to performance and visual arts.