{"id":1859138,"date":"2026-04-01T11:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1859138"},"modified":"2026-04-01T11:32:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:32:00","slug":"finnish-alt-pop-star-pehmoaino-art-helps-us-survive-this-dark-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1859138","title":{"rendered":"Finnish alt-pop star Pehmoaino: \u2018Art helps us survive this dark country\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1069\/79-0-1069-713\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442817.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/music\/article\/70021\/1\/finnish-alt-pop-star-pehmoaino-art-helps-us-survive-this-dark-country\" data-article-id=\"70021\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.89\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DC291_SO3_Pehmoaino_SebastianJohansson_SannaSiland\" class=\"img\" height=\"713\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442817.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Sebastian Johansson; Styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Sanna Silander<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-04-01T11:32:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"01 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"1\">1,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - music\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Finnish alt-pop star Pehmoaino: \u2018Art helps us survive this <span class=\"nowrap\">dark country\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>For our Spring 2026 issue, we spoke to the ethereal Finnish singer-poet about nature and national identity in the <span class=\"nowrap\">Nordic country<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-04-01T11:32:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"01 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"1\">1,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-04-01T11:32:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"01 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"1\">1,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/solomonpacemccarrick\">Solomon Pace-McCarrick<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span><em>This story is taken from the spring 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally now. Order a copy of the magazine\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boutiquemags.com\/dpa\/add\/tocart\/id\/14592\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I first saw 25-year-old Finnish singer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pehmoaino\/\">Pehmoaino<\/a> perform at the primordial Temppeliaukio Church during Helsinki Music Week last year. She sat on a cushion on the floor, backed by an electronic synthesiser to her left and a cellist to her right, the church\u2019s rock-hewn ceiling towering above her. Having arrived in the country just hours before, Aino\u2019s ethereal, echoing voice instantly reminded me of the scenes I\u2019d seen on the flight in: verdant forests, fields of reindeer, snow-capped mountains; beauties from another time. An attendee next to me jokingly described Aino and her boyfriend, premier Finnish rapper MELO, as the \u2018Beyonc\u00e9 and Jay-Z of Finland\u2019 \u2013 but she certainly didn\u2019t seem like any pop star I was familiar with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Indeed, Aino has had a winding path to stardom. Her career began when she won Finland\u2019s <\/span><em><span>The Voice Kids <\/span><\/em><span>talent show at just 12 years old, but it\u2019s an experience she holds bittersweet memories of today. \u201cI was so scared to be there; it wasn\u2019t my idea,\u201d Aino tells Dazed, who had to retake the first round after having a panic attack and not being able to perform. \u201cAs a child, I was always singing. My family saw that and really wanted me to sing for people, but it was such a personal thing for me. I\u2019m very neurodivergent. When people bring that [experience] up now, I struggle to realise that I was actually really there.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Rather than leaning into a Zara Larsson-like pop career after winning the competition, Aino went inward, rediscovering her personal relationship with creativity through poetry. She <\/span><span>did eventually return to music, but it was on her own terms \u2013 and there is some small degree of irony to be found in the fact that it led her to an even greater level of success. At age 19, Pehmoaino released her debut single \u201chaluun takas mun perhoset\u201d (\u201cI want my butterflies back\u201d), a delicate yet grandiose piano-backed ode to childhood innocence, and it became one of the first Finnish songs to go viral on TikTok. \u201cIt\u2019s weird and fun that I\u2019ve become a pretty well-known name in Finland,\u201d says Aino. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve been thinking about with my producer \u2013 how did it go this way?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While all this might seem like a very reluctant approach to success, it\u2019s actually in keeping with Finnish culture itself, which Aino says is all about \u201cworking hard and being humble\u201d. <\/span><span>With her pensive alt-pop releases regularly accruing streams in the tens of millions (for context, there are only five million Finnish speakers total on Earth), yet frequently downplaying her success as \u201cweird\u201d, Pehmoaino is a very Finnish type of pop star indeed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Below, she explains her love for lyrics, her connection to nature and what makes Finland different to neighbouring Sweden.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"n02lMgpGdwU\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n02lMgpGdwU\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>What makes your approach to music unique?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino:<\/strong><span> I think that\u2019s because I come from poetry, so I\u2019ve always liked lyrics. My<\/span><span>grandma wrote poems, and she was very dramatic. She was pretty sick when I was a small child, and I started making poems just to make her happier<\/span><span>. My mum is a therapist, so I\u2019ve grown up thinking about emotions and the human brain a lot. Because I always come up with the lyrics and the melody first, and then produce the track around it, I think that makes [my music] different to <\/span><em><span>Iskelm\u00e4 <\/span><\/em>[<span>Finland\u2019s approach to pop music], which is the most listened to genre in Finland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve spoken about making music and poetry from a young age. What inspired you growing up?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino: <\/strong><span>I think poets and musicians who had lyrics that really stood out. We had a piano at home, and my dad used to play it a lot, but my parents didn\u2019t listen to a lot of music, so I would just write poems and sing them. <\/span><span>My mom told me that I learned to sing before I knew how to speak. My aunt\u2019s husband used to record me secretly \u2013 he put a microphone in a teddy. He was like, \u2018This teddy is sick, so you have to sing to them\u2019. I was like one-year-old but, but when I sang words, I could pronounce them correctly. In between songs, when I was talking to my parents, I couldn\u2019t speak at all. That\u2019s interesting, it tells me that there\u2019s something about my brain\u2026 lyrics are how I learned how to speak.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Your name is Aino, so where does the \u2018Pehmo\u2019 come from?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino:<\/strong><span> \u2018Pehmo\u2019 means soft. It\u2019s kind of ironic, because I <\/span><em><span>am <\/span><\/em><span>soft, but I\u2019m also pretty tough. The joke is that I\u2019m saying things pretty softly, but I\u2019m also talking about abuse and attachment issues and not being able to love someone even if they love you because you hate yourself.<\/span><span> \u2018Soft\u2019 is a name I\u2019ve been using for years online. Through my teenage years, my friends would call me \u2018loser\u2019 Aino \u2013 they would use different adjectives in front of Aino \u2013 but then when I started releasing music, I was like, \u2018Shit, guess Pehmoaino has stuck\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"16352f27-6c60-4694-a53f-b41e00ebc2a0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442816.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.89\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Pehmoaino\" class=\"img\" height=\"713\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442816.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Sebastian Johansson; Styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Sanna Silander<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>When I visited Finland last year for Helsinki Music Week, I was shocked by the solidarity across such different styles in the Finnish music scene. What do you think makes Finnish music special?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino: <\/strong><span>Even though I\u2019ve always been good at singing, I\u2019ve also been a bit of an outcast. I was bullied at school and stuff. Being from Finland, however, automatically makes you a bit of an outcast from the world, because we have a language that only five million people speak, and they\u2019re almost all in Finland. Sometimes, if you make music in English when your first language is Finnish, people don\u2019t like that, because being humble is a really important thing in our culture. They automatically think you\u2019re trying to be international or something.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I make music in Finnish, but I also support my friends who make it in English. As I said, being Finnish automatically makes you a world outsider. We have a very beautiful scene here. The Helsinki music scene really started during Covid and now the younger generation is making a lot of cool things. We were doing parties outdoors under bridges and in the woods. People [internationally] are missing out by not speaking Finnish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>It\u2019s pretty dark all the time, so art is a pretty big way of surviving this dark country.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Do you think there\u2019s a connection between the Finnish landscape and the sounds that come out? Like your music is very big and open\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino: <\/strong><span>Yes, that&#8217;s Finland! We have a lot of forest and big, wide spaces. I <\/span><span>grew up in <\/span><span>Oulu, <\/span><span>\u00a0in Meri-Lappi, which means \u2018Ocean Lapland\u2019. <\/span><span>I love being in nature. <\/span><span>I\u2019ve grown up around a lot of sheep, sitting in the middle and singing songs to them. I also think boredom inspires me a lot, so I try to make space for boredom and to hang out in the woods. My grandma used to walk to school in paper shoes through nature. I\u2019ve always been inspired by the women who came before me, as it all started with my grandma\u2019s poems \u2013 so, being in nature has something spiritual in it. It lets me reconnect with them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I also think this is a pretty inspiring country. It\u2019s pretty dark all the time, so art is a big way of surviving this dark country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>I can\u2019t help but think there\u2019s a little bit of a parallel between you and neighbouring Swedish star Zara Larsson. You both won talent shows at a young age, but the music you make is obviously very different. Do you think that reflects differences in Swedish and Finnish culture?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino:<\/strong><span> Sweden is like Finland\u2019s older [sibling]; it\u2019s more international. People joke that they\u2019re trendier and dress better \u2013 Stockholm\u2019s bigger than Helsinki and Finland is like the sadder version of Sweden. We have more woods and it\u2019s greyer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But then, Bladee and Drain Gang, I think speak pretty well to the Finnish music culture. They speak to something we have in common rather than the Max Martin-style pop, you know? That\u2019s something that Finland has also tried. The 50-year-olds try to make the Max Martin-style pop, but happy Finnish pop stars just don\u2019t work out. The alternative scene in Finland does pretty well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Pehmoaino wears crepe dress Courr\u00e8ges, archive Issey Miyake wool scarf and archive Jean Paul Gaultier mesh gloves 20Age Archive, Baignoire de Cartier quartz and gold watch Cartier, Hair and make-up Miika Kemppainen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span><em>This story is taken from the spring 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally now. Order a copy of the magazine\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boutiquemags.com\/dpa\/add\/tocart\/id\/14592\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. 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href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/70002\/1\/adl-the-best-and-worst-tracks-on-yeats-new-album-elton-john-kylie-jenner\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"ab67618600000194fee8156d6b545ddaf4494790 copy\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-62-868-577\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442680.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">ADL: The best and worst tracks on Yeat\u2019s new album<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69997\/1\/fcukers-debut-album-o-interview-harry-styles-tour\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fcukers photographed by Yoan Zdravkov for Dazed AW25 issue \" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/252-0-2157-1435\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442611.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">\u2018A cig in one hand and an inhaler in the other\u2019: Fcukers know how to party<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69990\/1\/this-book-looks-inside-the-mad-world-of-lee-scratch-perry-black-ark\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"GettyImages-959966580\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-2485-1653\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442587.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">This book looks inside the mad world of Lee \u2018Scratch\u2019 Perry<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69986\/1\/dazed-mix-lauren-auder\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lead Image 16x9 \u2013 10\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-1624-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442531.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Dazed Mix: Lauren Auder<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69946\/1\/zaylevelten-leading-a-gen-z-nigerian-rap-revolution-spring-2026-interview\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"IMG_1715\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-1072-713\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442090.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Zaylevelten is leading a Gen Z Nigerian rap revolution<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69940\/1\/billionhappy-is-the-king-of-the-nu-china-rap-scene-shanghai-spring-2026\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DC291_SO2_BILLIONHAPPY_RinoQui_DarinDong_02\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-1072-713\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442028.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Billionhappy is the \u2018king\u2019 of the Nu China rap scene<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span><em>This story is taken from the spring 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally now. Order a copy of the magazine\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boutiquemags.com\/dpa\/add\/tocart\/id\/14592\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I first saw 25-year-old Finnish singer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pehmoaino\/\">Pehmoaino<\/a> perform at the primordial Temppeliaukio Church during Helsinki Music Week last year. She sat on a cushion on the floor, backed by an electronic synthesiser to her left and a cellist to her right, the church\u2019s rock-hewn ceiling towering above her. Having arrived in the country just hours before, Aino\u2019s ethereal, echoing voice instantly reminded me of the scenes I\u2019d seen on the flight in: verdant forests, fields of reindeer, snow-capped mountains; beauties from another time. An attendee next to me jokingly described Aino and her boyfriend, premier Finnish rapper MELO, as the \u2018Beyonc\u00e9 and Jay-Z of Finland\u2019 \u2013 but she certainly didn\u2019t seem like any pop star I was familiar with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Indeed, Aino has had a winding path to stardom. Her career began when she won Finland\u2019s <\/span><em><span>The Voice Kids <\/span><\/em><span>talent show at just 12 years old, but it\u2019s an experience she holds bittersweet memories of today. \u201cI was so scared to be there; it wasn\u2019t my idea,\u201d Aino tells Dazed, who had to retake the first round after having a panic attack and not being able to perform. \u201cAs a child, I was always singing. My family saw that and really wanted me to sing for people, but it was such a personal thing for me. I\u2019m very neurodivergent. When people bring that [experience] up now, I struggle to realise that I was actually really there.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Rather than leaning into a Zara Larsson-like pop career after winning the competition, Aino went inward, rediscovering her personal relationship with creativity through poetry. She <\/span><span>did eventually return to music, but it was on her own terms \u2013 and there is some small degree of irony to be found in the fact that it led her to an even greater level of success. At age 19, Pehmoaino released her debut single \u201chaluun takas mun perhoset\u201d (\u201cI want my butterflies back\u201d), a delicate yet grandiose piano-backed ode to childhood innocence, and it became one of the first Finnish songs to go viral on TikTok. \u201cIt\u2019s weird and fun that I\u2019ve become a pretty well-known name in Finland,\u201d says Aino. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve been thinking about with my producer \u2013 how did it go this way?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While all this might seem like a very reluctant approach to success, it\u2019s actually in keeping with Finnish culture itself, which Aino says is all about \u201cworking hard and being humble\u201d. <\/span><span>With her pensive alt-pop releases regularly accruing streams in the tens of millions (for context, there are only five million Finnish speakers total on Earth), yet frequently downplaying her success as \u201cweird\u201d, Pehmoaino is a very Finnish type of pop star indeed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Below, she explains her love for lyrics, her connection to nature and what makes Finland different to neighbouring Sweden.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"n02lMgpGdwU\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n02lMgpGdwU\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>What makes your approach to music unique?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino:<\/strong><span> I think that\u2019s because I come from poetry, so I\u2019ve always liked lyrics. My<\/span><span>grandma wrote poems, and she was very dramatic. She was pretty sick when I was a small child, and I started making poems just to make her happier<\/span><span>. My mum is a therapist, so I\u2019ve grown up thinking about emotions and the human brain a lot. Because I always come up with the lyrics and the melody first, and then produce the track around it, I think that makes [my music] different to <\/span><em><span>Iskelm\u00e4 <\/span><\/em>[<span>Finland\u2019s approach to pop music], which is the most listened to genre in Finland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve spoken about making music and poetry from a young age. What inspired you growing up?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino: <\/strong><span>I think poets and musicians who had lyrics that really stood out. We had a piano at home, and my dad used to play it a lot, but my parents didn\u2019t listen to a lot of music, so I would just write poems and sing them. <\/span><span>My mom told me that I learned to sing before I knew how to speak. My aunt\u2019s husband used to record me secretly \u2013 he put a microphone in a teddy. He was like, \u2018This teddy is sick, so you have to sing to them\u2019. I was like one-year-old but, but when I sang words, I could pronounce them correctly. In between songs, when I was talking to my parents, I couldn\u2019t speak at all. That\u2019s interesting, it tells me that there\u2019s something about my brain\u2026 lyrics are how I learned how to speak.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Your name is Aino, so where does the \u2018Pehmo\u2019 come from?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino:<\/strong><span> \u2018Pehmo\u2019 means soft. It\u2019s kind of ironic, because I <\/span><em><span>am <\/span><\/em><span>soft, but I\u2019m also pretty tough. The joke is that I\u2019m saying things pretty softly, but I\u2019m also talking about abuse and attachment issues and not being able to love someone even if they love you because you hate yourself.<\/span><span> \u2018Soft\u2019 is a name I\u2019ve been using for years online. Through my teenage years, my friends would call me \u2018loser\u2019 Aino \u2013 they would use different adjectives in front of Aino \u2013 but then when I started releasing music, I was like, \u2018Shit, guess Pehmoaino has stuck\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"16352f27-6c60-4694-a53f-b41e00ebc2a0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1350\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442816.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.89\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Pehmoaino\" class=\"img\" height=\"713\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442816.jpg\" width=\"1350\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Sebastian Johansson; Styling <span class=\"nowrap\">Sanna Silander<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>When I visited Finland last year for Helsinki Music Week, I was shocked by the solidarity across such different styles in the Finnish music scene. What do you think makes Finnish music special?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino: <\/strong><span>Even though I\u2019ve always been good at singing, I\u2019ve also been a bit of an outcast. I was bullied at school and stuff. Being from Finland, however, automatically makes you a bit of an outcast from the world, because we have a language that only five million people speak, and they\u2019re almost all in Finland. Sometimes, if you make music in English when your first language is Finnish, people don\u2019t like that, because being humble is a really important thing in our culture. They automatically think you\u2019re trying to be international or something.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I make music in Finnish, but I also support my friends who make it in English. As I said, being Finnish automatically makes you a world outsider. We have a very beautiful scene here. The Helsinki music scene really started during Covid and now the younger generation is making a lot of cool things. We were doing parties outdoors under bridges and in the woods. People [internationally] are missing out by not speaking Finnish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>It\u2019s pretty dark all the time, so art is a pretty big way of surviving this dark country.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Do you think there\u2019s a connection between the Finnish landscape and the sounds that come out? Like your music is very big and open\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino: <\/strong><span>Yes, that&#8217;s Finland! We have a lot of forest and big, wide spaces. I <\/span><span>grew up in <\/span><span>Oulu, <\/span><span>\u00a0in Meri-Lappi, which means \u2018Ocean Lapland\u2019. <\/span><span>I love being in nature. <\/span><span>I\u2019ve grown up around a lot of sheep, sitting in the middle and singing songs to them. I also think boredom inspires me a lot, so I try to make space for boredom and to hang out in the woods. My grandma used to walk to school in paper shoes through nature. I\u2019ve always been inspired by the women who came before me, as it all started with my grandma\u2019s poems \u2013 so, being in nature has something spiritual in it. It lets me reconnect with them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I also think this is a pretty inspiring country. It\u2019s pretty dark all the time, so art is a big way of surviving this dark country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>I can\u2019t help but think there\u2019s a little bit of a parallel between you and neighbouring Swedish star Zara Larsson. You both won talent shows at a young age, but the music you make is obviously very different. Do you think that reflects differences in Swedish and Finnish culture?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pehmoaino:<\/strong><span> Sweden is like Finland\u2019s older [sibling]; it\u2019s more international. People joke that they\u2019re trendier and dress better \u2013 Stockholm\u2019s bigger than Helsinki and Finland is like the sadder version of Sweden. We have more woods and it\u2019s greyer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But then, Bladee and Drain Gang, I think speak pretty well to the Finnish music culture. They speak to something we have in common rather than the Max Martin-style pop, you know? That\u2019s something that Finland has also tried. The 50-year-olds try to make the Max Martin-style pop, but happy Finnish pop stars just don\u2019t work out. The alternative scene in Finland does pretty well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Pehmoaino wears crepe dress Courr\u00e8ges, archive Issey Miyake wool scarf and archive Jean Paul Gaultier mesh gloves 20Age Archive, Baignoire de Cartier quartz and gold watch Cartier, Hair and make-up Miika Kemppainen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span><em>This story is taken from the spring 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally now. Order a copy of the magazine\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boutiquemags.com\/dpa\/add\/tocart\/id\/14592\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/70021\/1\/finnish-alt-pop-star-pehmoaino-art-helps-us-survive-this-dark-country&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1069\/79-0-1069-713\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442817.jpg&#8221;] Photography Sebastian Johansson; Styling Sanna Silander April\u00a0 1,\u00a0 2026 Music \/ Q+A Music \/ Q+A Finnish alt-pop star Pehmoaino: \u2018Art helps us survive this dark country\u2019 For our Spring 2026 issue, we spoke to the ethereal Finnish singer-poet about nature and national identity in the Nordic country April\u00a0 1,\u00a0 2026 April\u00a0 1,\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1859138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1859138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1859138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1859138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1859138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1859138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1859138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}