Following the grand reveal of the seven acts competing in Finland’s Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) 2024, Finnish broadcaster Yle is dropping the lyrics videos for each entry one by one. Next up is Sexmane, a.k.a. Max Sene, with “Mania.”
Sexmane is currently one of the most listened-to artists in Finland. His 2019 debut album Sextape was a roaring success, sitting on the Official Finnish Albums Chart for over 100 weeks. His second album Väärinymmärretty earned the artist four Emma nominations (Finnish Grammys) His 2023 album Sextape II sealed his success. After the album’s release, 18 of its 20 songs made the Finnish Top 50 chart. Sene was nominated for four Emmas in two consecutive years and won the title of Finnish Artist of the Year.
Music was a big part of Sene’s life already in his early childhood. Sene grew up in a religious Laestadian community, where it is common to sing hymns and the community’s own songs. Commercial music was forbidden in the community, but the attraction to it was powerful.
Sexmane — “Mania”
His UMK entry Mania was formed slowly from different pieces. Sene wrote the song at different times and in different moods, which is also apparent in the song lyrics.
“The words in the chorus crystallise my thoughts: it’s quite all right to be a bit ‘crazy’ I know that a lot of young people are struggling with mental health challenges. I want to give them the strength and courage to hang in there.”
Until now, Sene has followed UMK from the audience, as his older brother Isaac Sene competed in UMK in 2022, with his hit song Kuuma Jäbä. Now, Sene has his sights set on doing what Finland just missed out on last year.
UMK24 jury: “Sexmane (a.k.a. Max Sene) is one of Finland’s most listened-to artists, the winner of the audience poll at the 2023 Emma Gaala (Finnish Grammys) and a wonderful addition to the UMK music lineup. Renowned as a new wave rapper, Sexmane creates music in which a wide variety of influences can be heard. This time round, Mania, with its strong opening hook, goes for a big rock sound, culminating in an epic guitar solo. The strengths of Max Sene’s music have always been authenticity and honesty. This is also very much the case in this intense song, which is virtually tailor made for big arenas”.
UMK 2023 song release schedule
- Thu, 11 January: Cyan Kicks – Dancing With Demons
- Fri, 12 January: Sexmane – Mania
- Mon, 15 January: Sara Siipola – Paskana
- Tue, 16 January: Jesse Markin – Glow
- Wed, 17 January Windows95man – No Rules
- Thu, 18 January Sini Sabotage – Kuori mua
- Fri, 19 January Mikael Gabriel x nublu – Vox Populi
