Swedish band almost turned to cleric (5)
I believe the answer is:
abbot
'cleric' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'swedish band almost turned' is the wordplay.
'swedish band' becomes 'abb' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'almost' means to remove the first letter.
'turned' becomes 'got' (getting is a kind of turning).
'got' with its first letter taken away is 'ot'.
'abb'+'ot'='ABBOT'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abbot that I've seen before include "Convent leader, male" , "chap who'll be over order?" , "Brother" , "friar" , "Head of religious house" .)