TOP TRAX: HERE, KITTY KITTY! TOVE LO’S LATEST IS PURR-FECTION
By DJ FR8-O | Photos provided by Mighty Real Agency
When it comes to the music biz, there’s no doubt it’s the girls who run the world. Just take one look at your gym or party playlist – riddled with hits by Ariana, Gaga, Beyoncé, Lizzo, P!nk and Madonna – and you’ll believe me. Still, there’s another girls club you may not be on a first-name basis with; not yet at least. They hover on the fringe of fame, dropping the occasional anthem, then mysteriously creep back into the crowd until their next big surprise hit. They’ve not yet earned the title of queen or princess, but they still make you wanna drop everything and treat your treadmill like it’s the middle of the dance floor. One of those divas is Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo, and her new album Sunshine Kitty, may just be your next obsession.
The 31-year-old singer-songwriter crashed the party back in 2014 with her breakout hit “Habits (Stay High),” an anthem for anyone who likes to deal with their break-ups in the most deliciously unhealthy ways. Then again, who doesn’t? It must have worked, because it wasn’t long before her follow up “Talking Body,” started chatting us up with lyrics like, “If we’re talking body, you’ve got a perfect one, so put it on me.” Tove’s gift for wordplay and fearless attitude have led her to collaborations with some of Europe’s major players, like Charli XCX, Icona Pop, Alesso, Major Lazer, Ellie Goulding, and Zara Larsson. And how can we forget her part in the slow-burning Nick Jonas track “Close?”
On her fourth time out the gate, the Golden Globe and Grammy-nominated multi-platinum artist has managed to do what other artists seem unable to successfully accomplish lately: evolve gracefully. Her signature experimental style is still there, but this time it’s been polished with happier earworms like the girlfriend pep-talk “Glad He’s Gone,” the vulnerable “Come Undone,” the smoldering “Stay Over” and my personal obsession “Sweettalk My Heart.” This collection is not short on hot collaborations either; with cameos by Kylie Minogue (“Really Don’t Like You”), ALMA (“Bad as the Boys”), and the dance floors newest prince, Jax Jones (“Jacques”).
“I’ve finally landed in a place where there are some of the usual challenges,” she explains about her sudden musical mood swing, “but I feel more at home with the weirdness of what it means to be a person who puts her heart on paper for everyone to listen to. I’m vulnerable, but not angry, It’s the same emotional honesty – yet happy.” Whatever the reason, the result is Tove’s best work ever, perfectly tip-toeing the line between relevant pop and rebellious experimentation. It’s futuristic syths meshed with organic instrumentation, aggressive confidence blended with raw emotions, and a touch of doubt brightened by a ray of sunshine.
Tove Lo will be kicking off her U.S. Sunshine Kitty Tourin February 2020. I, for one, will be there living my best life and singing every one of these tracks like I wrote them myself. Check tove-lo.com for tour dates and deets.
If you’re a recording artist, producer or musician and would like your work featured in TOP TRAX, hit me up at abarrios@wiremag.com.
This was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue 21.2019