Starting out as leaders of competing bands, Swedish pop duo We Are Serenades came together after a chance meeting between Adam Olenius (Shout Out Louds) and Markus Krunegård (Laakso) at a rest stop on the autobahn. After years of rivalry within the Swedish music scene, Olenius and Krunegård eventually became friends, which led to a songwriting partnership. They created a sort of creative dogma for We Are Serenades to live by, stressing that all of the music needed to be positive and uplifting, and that they would always try to sing together as one voice rather than trading off songs. Their voices would finally be heard together in 2012 with the release of their debut full-length, Criminal Heaven, on Cherrytree Records. ~ Gregory Heaney