Europop

It all began with the Swedes in the ’70s — gleefully grand, unashamedly pretty, and packed with potent mass appeal, ABBA and ear-candy classics like “Dancing Queen” kicked off the Europop craze that had its way with the airwaves for the next two decades and on into the 21st century. ABBA’s homeland was fertile ground for the sound, spawning the likes of Ace of Base (“Dancer In a Daydream”), Roxette (“Joyride”), and Koop (the acid-jazz whirl “Waltz for Koop”), but today, Europop hails from all over the lands across the sea, with everything from the progressive dance tracks of French duo Daft Punk (“Digital Love”), to the lounge-lizard groove of London’s Stereolab (“Miss Modular”).

“There’s More to Life Than This,” trills Icelandic individualist Björk — and there’s more to our Europop Essentials, in Next Steps.

Next Steps take a tour of the Continent, and the first stop is Europop breeding ground Sweden, where cheerfully morose indie prodigy Jens Lekman is hopping into a “Black Cab” for a regretful ride home from the party he killed. Next up, a trip to Norway, where Röyksopp make the most of being way North with the warm and cozy electronica of “Happy Up Here.” A quick visit to France finds us in the heady company of new-school chanteuse Charlotte Gainsbourg for a “5:55” date, before we head to Spain for an afternoon cup of joe with La Buena Vida and “Tardes de Cafe.”

“Say Something New,” plead Swedes the Concretes, to which we respond, “Join us in Deep Cuts” for more fresh, flavorful Europop.

One Europop mantle, many wonderful threads of sound — it’s what our Deep Cuts are all about as we head to the far reaches in search of the sophisticated yet sweet retro vibe of Dutch combo Daryll-Ann and a spicy “Rosemary Girl,” alongside the nostalgia-steeped electronica of “Erinner dich” from German trio Klee. Dublin-born artiste Róisín Murphy gets her quirk on in a left-field exploration of body parts and beyond, “Ramalama (Bang Bang);” and Blue States makes with a British trip-hop tease in the form of a flirty, far-out “Your Girl.”

It must be something in the meatballs. Hey, we have no other explanation for Sweden’s impressive Europop pedigree, from the advancing army that is ABBA’s breakthrough onslaught “Waterloo,” to the swoop and woo-hoo swing of Komeda and “It’s Alright, Baby,” to the “love me, love me” persuasion of the Cardigans and a go-for-broke “Lovefool.” The land of lingonberries and IKEA may have a lock on the music’s origins, but as our democratic Europop Essentials prove, the sound abounds all over — in the Dutch indie bounce of Johan and “Pergola,” in the expansive atmosphere of French twosome Air and a dreamy “Kelly Watch the Stars,” and in the international summit that is Italian maestro Zucchero and Latin-rock superstars Maná and their rock-candy nugget “Baila Morena.”