Espionage (production team)

Espionage is a New York-based Norwegian songwriting and music production team consisting of Espen Lind and Amund Bjørklund. Their breakthrough came in 2006 as co-writers of Beyoncé's worldwide smash "Irreplaceable",[1] which was number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 consecutive weeks and the best selling single in the US in 2007.[2] They are probably best known as the producers and cowriters behind several of Train's major hits after 2009, including "Drive By" and their comeback single "Hey, Soul Sister",[3] which is among the 20 highest selling singles of all time in the US.[4] Espionage has received numerous BMI Awards.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Espionage
OriginTromsø, Norway
GenresRock, pop, R&B
Occupation(s)Producing, songwriting
Years active2001–present
MembersEspen Lind
Amund Bjørklund

US breakthrough

In 2006 Lind and Bjørklund co-wrote the third single from Beyoncé Knowles' B'day, "Irreplaceable", and followed up by co-writing the third single from Chris Brown's second album Exclusive, "With You". Both were major hits that marked Espionage's breakthrough into the US market. Written together with fellow Norwegian producers Stargate, the tracks were both based on a fingerpicked acoustic guitar figure laced with a programmed beat.[13] Lind and Bjorklund have collaborated with Stargate on numerous other tracks, such as Ne-Yo's "Go On Girl", Jennifer Hudson's "Can't Stop the Rain", and Jordin Sparks' "Just for the Record".[14]

In 2008 and 2009 Espionage co-wrote several songs from American Idol winner David Cook's debut album,[15] including the gold single "Come Back To Me" (#6 on the Hot Adult Top 40), as well as producing and/or writing songs for Cavo,[16] Trey Songz and Elliott Yamin.

They also worked on alternative rock band Train's album Save Me, San Francisco, including producing and co-writing the Top 3 single "Hey, Soul Sister", which is widely regarded as the band's commercial comeback. Singer Pat Monahan explained to website GoErie.com how the song came about: "I said, 'I want to write an INXS-y song", Monahan recalled. "So, they started playing kind of an INXS-y song, and I wrote the song '"Hey, Soul Sister" to it and the melodies and started to sing it. And I was like, 'Man, this just doesn't sound great to me. One of the guys, Espen, who's like a huge star in Norway, picked up a ukulele, and said, 'Hey, how about this?' I was like, 'Are you (kidding) me?' And it made the difference. It made my words dance. It made sense. These words were meant to dance with ukulele and not guitar."[17] It has sold close to 6 million downloads in the US and is the most downloaded song in Columbia Records' history.[18]

Train's 2012 International hit single "Drive By" was produced and co-written by Espionage.[19] The song became Train's third Billboard Hot 100 Top 10, and also a Top 10 hit in 14 countries around the world. It has sold over 2 million copies in the US and was awarded a double platinum certification by the RIAA on July 23, 2012. Lind and Bjorklund also produced the band's 2012 album California 37 with Butch Walker, co-writing 5 tracks.

Discography
Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 Singles
Other selected credits
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References
  1. Hight, Jewly (3 February 2009). "Espen Lind and Amund Bjorklund Spell Out the Transcontinental Potency of Pop". BMI.com. Retrieved Feb 3, 2009.
  2. "BMI Honors The Jacksons, T-Pain and Many More at Urban Awards in Los Angeles". BMI.com. 5 September 2008. Retrieved Sep 25, 2008.
  3. Richards, Dave. "Train adds ukulele to make "Hey, Soul Sister" a chart topper". GoErie.com. Retrieved Nov 7, 2009.
  4. List of best-selling singles in the United States
  5. "2007 BMI London Awards: Song List". BMI.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  6. "BMI Honors The Jacksons, T-Pain and Many More at Urban Awards in Los Angeles". BMI.com. 5 September 2008.
  7. "Gamble & Huff Named BMI Icons at 57th Annual Pop Awards". BMI.com. 20 May 2009.
  8. "Donovan, Danielle Brisebois, Natasha Bedingfield and More Honored at 2009 BMI London Awards". BMI.com. 6 October 2009.
  9. "2007 BMI Urban Awards: BMI Award Winning Songs". BMI.com. 8 September 2007.
  10. "BMI Pop Awards 2010". BMI.com. 19 May 2010.
  11. "Songwriting Duo Espionage Collect 09 BMI Pop Awards". BMI.com. 11 February 2010.
  12. "Bryan Ferry Receives Top Honor At 2008 BMI London Awards". BMI.com.
  13. "Espen Lind and Amund Bjorklund Spell Out the Transcontinental Potency of Pop". BMI.com. 3 February 2009.
  14. Jordin Sparks – Jordin Sparks, billboard.com
  15. Ganz, Caryn, Album Reviews: David Cook, billboard.com, retrieved Nov 27, 2008
  16. "Cavo Set to Release Reprise Debut". Vintage Guitar Magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-01-04.
  17. "Train adds ukulele to make 'Hey, Soul Sister' a chart topper" by Dave Richards, posted November 7, 2009
  18. Ciminelli, David. "Train's 'Hey Soul Sister' Nabs First Grammy Win for iTunes". The Hollywood Reporter.
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2012-01-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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