Balancing tender songcraft and rousing pop production, the sleek indie folk of Smith & Thell brings together the talents of singer/songwriter Maria Jane Smith and producer/songwriter Victor Thell. After breaking through with the country-inflected "Statue (The Pills Song)" in 2015, they released their full-length debut, Soulprints, in 2017. A year later, "Forgive Me Friend" became a Top Ten single in their native Sweden and an alternative hit in the States. Smith & Thell released their first single as duo, "Kill It with Love," in 2012, following it with "Super DJ" in 2013. Their fifth single, 2015's "Statue (The Pills Song)," won them Rookie Artist of the Year honors at the Swedish Denniz Pop Awards, which featured Max Martin among the jury. The song was included on Smith & Thell's debut album, Soulprints, which arrived on Sweden's Playground Music in 2017. They also signed with Arista for the follow-up EP, 2018's Telephone Wires. That year, their song "Forgive Me Friend" featuring Swedish Jam Factory finished in the runner-up position on the second edition of Our European Song Contest, an online competition inspired by Eurovision Song Contest. It went to number seven in Sweden, topped the singles chart in Poland, and reached the Top 30 of the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the U.S. Smith & Thell returned with "Hotel Walls," co-written with Alexander Tidebrink and Kent's Joakim Berg, in 2019.