Ah! Some nice tunes from Scandinavia! Tove Lo (Ebbe Tove Elsa Nilsson in full) is actually the first artist from Sweden featuring in our Sweet Saturday Sounds.
The 26-year old singer/songwriter has just released her debut EP Truth Serum a few months ago, and her single ‘Habits’ (Stay High) is quickly rising in the charts. Performing at this year’s SXSW festival didn’t leave her unnoticed across the ocean either, with Vogue claiming her to become ‘the next breakout music star’ to prove it.
Listening to the songs it’s clear they refer a lot to matters of the heart; she says she took inspiration for the lyrics from her personal journal in the aftermath of an ended lovestory. In an interview following the release of the EP she tells Billboard magazine: “Because you know, love is pain. We’re always so safe and controlled and you need to take risks. I think that’s bad for us in the long run [if you don’t]. You need to feel passion for something, that kind of intensity.”
Heartaches, relationship drama’s… these are all emotions we can relate to -therefore common subjects in music- and even though Tove Lo’s genre tends to electronic pop, the message shines through her melodic, raspy voice in a raw and unbridled manner. Her lyrics don’t lie about what helps her getting over a break up either:
I get home, I got the munchies
Binge on all my Twinkies
Throw up in the tub
Then I go to sleep
And I drank up all my money
Tasted kinda lonely
(from Habits)
Aside from finishing up a full album, she also writes for other artists such as Icona Pop (We Got The World), Girls Aloud (Something New), Adam Lambert, plus you will recognize her vocals on ‘Run On Love’ by Lucas Nord and Seven Lions & Myon & Shane 54’s remix of ‘Strangers’.
Find more on Tove Lo via her website or follow her on instagram.