Erik Hassle aims to break through

According to one Swedish newspaper pop hopeful Erik Hassle hails from the most boring city in the country.

Katrineholm - population just over 20,000, a commuter town for the captial - doesn't appear to offer a budding musician many opportunities.

"They don't really like people moving [away] or people moving in," he says of the community he grew up in. "It's that kind of a vibe in the city."

Still, it hasn't stopped Hassle - 21 years old, over 6 foot tall and gangly in person - chasing his dream of being a popstar.

After graduating from high school he moved to Stockholm aged 15 in search of more opportunities.

Scandinavian export

He's now 21 and it's going just swimmingly - in fact he finds himself as one of the most distinctive Scandinavian musical exports in recent memory.

"I'm 191cm but with the hair I'm two metres tall so I'm quite high," he laughs.

"It [my hair] belongs in the afro salon but I'm white, it's a twist.

"I'm going to try and get a license for it and go into all the Swedish barber shops and demonstrate how they should cut people if they want a 'hassle'."

Beyond his tower of curls it's looking like a bright autumn for the singer following the success of debut single Don't Bring Flowers earlier this year.

New song Hurtful - a breakthrough track back home - is his follow up.

A song that's seen him able to crisscross his native Sweden on headlining tours and wind up supporting Little Boots on her forthcoming UK gigs.

"Hurtful is the song that made it happen for me," he admits. "It's quite arena, quite big the production.

"It's a love song. I had a conscience and I was regretting something that I had done. You can relate to it as a specific heartbreak situation as well."

Controversial video

The single already has three videos circulating on YouTube, the first, done when it was first released in Sweden which landed him in hot water.

"The first video was me and five girls in a bed, basically. It was hard work," he laughs. "The second video was another video because the other one got banned because it was too naked."

He makes a quick correction: "I wasn't naked - they didn't have very much clothes.

"There were a lot of scenes and the headache started to grow on me after a while."

For the moment, Hurtful is a taster for the full length album Pieces set for release in November in the UK.

"It's more based on synths than guitar on the album," he says of the overall sound.

"It's 12 pop songs. I grew up listening to only The Commitments - that's what made me sing. I really like American soul too."

Right this second, with Hurtful poised to be a huge hit, he has to contend with being an internet 'buzz' sensation - a tag he's looking to shake off by proving his worth outside the virtual world.

"I think Twittering is quite interesting," he muses. "But I've never read a blog basically so I'm not the blog guy."