Galantis

Galantis – duo from Sweden, plays electro house and dance-pop music

Galantis was formed in 2012 in Stockholm. The members are Christian Karlsson and Linus Eklow. Before forming the band, both artists already had experience working in the music industry. For example, Karlsson helped Britany Spears record her hit “Toxic. Meanwhile, Eklow worked on the songs of another Swedish duo Icona Pop.

In 2009, the band Miike Snow, where Karlsson performed at the time, asked Elkow to create a remix of one of their songs. The project was a success, but the musicians went their separate ways after completion.

Three years later, the young men met again in Karlsson’s studio in Stockholm. Each one of them had plenty of respect for another one’s work. They decided to create a joint project, which was named Galantis.

At the end of 2013, the band signed a contract with Big Beat Records and recorded its first single “Smile”. The song didn’t make it into the charts but was popular among the local electro house fans. Soon the artists recorded a music video for the song. The video led to controversial opinions from the critics due to its erotic bordering on pornographic content. However, on YouTube, the video collected more than a million views. Many other artists covered the song.

The single “Smile” and the duo’s next song “You” became part of the EP Galantis (2014). The album climbed to the 72nd spot of US Dance/Electronic Albums Chart.

In 2014, Galantis released its first official hit "Runaway (U & I)". It’s worth noting that the song charted better in the rest of the world than in the singers’ native country. On the Swedish chart, the single climbed to the 25th spot. Meanwhile, in the UK, it came in fourth. The US Dance/Electronic Albums Chart granted it the 9th position. The track was highly commercially successful. It earned a variety of platinum certifications, two of them in Sweden. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Dance Recording.

In 2015, the group recorded its first studio LP, Pharmacy. Beside "Runaway (U & I)", it included one more hit “Peanut Butter Jelly”. The single reached the 17th spot on the Swedish chart and the 8th position on UK Singles Chart. Both the song and its music video were nominated for International Dance Music Awards.

The album itself topped US Dance/Electronic Albums and reached the 7th position on the Swedish albums chart. The duo was at the peak of its popularity. Many organizers tried to book Galantis for birthdays and private events, but they were busy recording new songs and traveling the world. In the summer of 2015, the musicians went on a tour of Europe and North America.

In 2016, the group produced one more hit single “No Money.” It reached the 4th spot in Sweden and became the band’s first song to make it into Billboard Hot 100. In the UK and Australia, the song was certified platinum. It was featured in the second studio LP, Aviary, which came out in September 2017.

The second LP was less popular than the debut album. It didn’t even make it into the national chart. However, the LP climbed to the 102nd spot on Billboard 200. It featured such hits as “Look On Me” and “Hunter”.

In 2018, Galantis recorded a new single, “Spaceship”, which will become a part of its third studio album. The name and the release date are yet to be announced.