Tough love from Tove Lo

AMONG THE COUNTLESS other things it gets right, Sweden is a pretty amazing place for pop talent. And its latest export, Tove Lo from Stockholm, adds an irresistibly drunken class and beautiful sense of corruption to the mix.
Haunting, raw and brutally honest, yet elegant and inspiring, her electronic-pop tracks include “Habits (Stay High)”, “Not on Drugs”, “Out of Mind”, “Scream My Name” and “Talking Body”. The 27-year-old singer digs into the dark side of love, but there is empowerment too.
Tove Lo’s lyrical flow (solely in English), mixed with expertly crafted electronic sounds, makes “Queen of the Clouds” one of the scene’s most outstanding albums, one that’s a rare find in this EDM-crazed era.
Late last year, while opening for Katie Perry on her Prismatic World Tour, Lo announced that she had a cyst on her vocal cords that needed immediate surgery and cancelled all subsequent shows. Now recuperating in her homeland, the rising star chatted with us via e-mail about her next moves.

THE OPERATION WENT WELL?
It went well, thank you! I’m recovering steadily but slowly.

WHEN WOULD YOU BE READY TO SING AGAIN FOR THE FANS?
Hopefully in a month, as it looks now. I started doing some vocal exercises last week and it’s feeling pretty good. But it’s a bit like starting over – like working on a broken foot or something.

EVEN AS A CHILD YOU WERE INTO POEMS AND SHORT STORIES. DID THAT LEAD YOU INTO MUSIC?
I didn’t start to sing until my teens, thanks to a few friends who were great singers and encouraged me. Then I applied to a music high school in Stockholm, and once I started there I was hooked for life. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else!
In those three years of music at high school I really developed a need for singing and performing. I have quite a dark mind, with a lot of emotions running wild, and music really helps to channel a lot of it. And, as far as the career choice goes, I just can’t see myself doing anything other than this. I would go mad. So it was more of a need than a choice, really.

MUSIC BECAME THERAPY FOR YOU.
Yes. A lot of twisted stuff goes on in my head and it’s hard to talk about. You feel judged, exposed when confessing your flaws and stuff. But when I sing about it, it’s fine. It’s a relief in my heart to write about stuff I can’t talk about.

DO YOU HAVE MUSIC IDOLS YOU LOOK UP?
There are many, but I really look up to all my talented friends. All the producers and writers who are part of Wolf Cousins, where I’m signed, are great inspiration. Then you have my back-in-the -day stuff like Nirvana, Janis Joplin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kate Bush, and then Robyn, Lykke Li, Mikky Ekko, Lorde and Banks, among others.
It varies from month to month! [laughs]

WAS MAKING “QUEEN OF THE CLOUDS” A LOT OF PRESSURE CONSIDERING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PREVIOUS EP?
I was more excited than anything to get an album out! It’s been my dream since forever. I felt really confident about the songs I had and was so inspired to write, but I never really felt insecure. Even in the final week, when it was all done and I was about to release it, I was, like, “Wait, what if everyone hates it?”
But I’m so proud of it, and hopefully it won’t matter what everybody else thinks.

MOST OF THE SONGS ARE ABOUT LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS. HOW MUCH OF IT COMES FROM YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE?
All of it! I’m very personal in my songs. Which I think some people aren’t too thrilled about, but that’s just the way I write.

DO YOU SET A LIMIT OF HOW MUCH PERSONAL STUFF YOU PUT OUT?
No, I can’t make rules like that because it will interrupt the creative process.

AND WHAT IS THAT PROCESS?
Usually I have a theme or a lyric idea in my head, together with a melody. I then sit down at my piano, finding the right chords, and change around whatever I need to, to get the feeling I’m after. Then I make a little production demo on my computer and send it on to my producers.

DO YOU WRITE IN SWEDISH AS WELL AS ENGLISH?
I don’t, actually. I think writing in English lets me be more personal. When I translate my songs they sound even blunter and open, and then it gets a little scary. But it’s a challenge I might try one day.
 On the Web:
www.tove-lo.com