Sondre Lerche

Why he’s sexy: Sondre Lerche‘s stellar pop craftsmanship steals your heart with playful wit and unaffected earnestness.

What he’s all about: Over a decade of releases, the Norwegian wunderkind, now 27, has demonstrated admirable versatility, sampling elegant songwriter pop (2004’s Two Way Monologue), jaunty jazz pop (2006’s Duper Sessions) and spiky power pop (2007’s Phantom Punch). Like Elvis Costello (whom he covers on 2007’s Dan in Real Life soundtrack), Lerche combines genre hopping, a melodic touch and assured — if sometimes inscrutable — lyricism. This isn’t a joke, it’s merely a sin, he offers on the coy come-on “Say It All.” Lerche’s lush compositions on his latest release, Heartbeat Radio, lighten Lerche’s precocious theatricality with a deft orchestral touch and a breezy spirit.