in July 630, Tove Lo married her New Zealand-born boyfriend Charlie Twaddle in typical free-spirited style: an impromptu ceremony in Las Vegas. “I never really wanted to get married,” she said with a laugh. “I’m still thinking, ‘Wait, are we really
married?'” The initial shock of the two families — “they Like, You did something conventional!
” – which was quickly replaced by a whole bunch of questions. Will they move out of the collective living with five friends in Los Angeles? the answer is negative. Will they have children? Lo is not sure. Would they consider living in the suburbs with traditional 2.4 kids? Absolutely not.
Even outside her immediate circle, The Swedish pop star – whose lyrics touch on themes of heartbreak, sex, depression, drugs and late-night dancing alone in dive bars – will return with a different record by her fans. (To get an idea of Lo’s typically lyrical prowess, a viral tweet wrote after the debut of her song for the second season of Euphoria Said: “Tove Lo gives Euphoria before Euphoria is euphoric.”)
Thankfully, when the first track on the album, “No One Dies From Love,” arrived in May, it immediately Allayed people’s concerns about the new Lo. Zhang will focus solely on her newfound marital happiness. A thunderous, tearful pop that softly recalls Lo’s country girl Robyn, the song is a heartbreaking dirge centred on the lyrics: “Nobody dies of love / Guess I will is the first one.”
Photo: Mart Vares
Although, at the time, the song was more about emotional turmoil as her co-author and longtime Collaborator Ludvig Söderberg (also known as A Strut), Lo herself is also grappling with existential questions about love and the kind of life she wants to live. “Even though I’m in a good place, I still have a lot of emotional roller coasters,” she said. “Not that happiness is boring or anything. But for me, even when things are good, I quickly think, what if I lose this? I’m in a worst-case scenario. Here I am. What’s your biggest fear? I think a lot of anxious people do it, but if I write it out, then I can release that thought, you know?”
So write it out and she does it. On Lo’s upcoming fifth album Dirt Femme
, due in October, she dissipates with utter honesty through the prism of pop music these demons. Interwoven with its masterful pop melodies and infectious synth lines, the lyrics touch on everything from her previous struggles with eating disorders to the institution of marriage that reconciles her queer identity with heterosexual norms. The result is Lo’s strongest, brightest, and most cohesive work to date.
at the center of the album, however, is the dichotomy of expression in the title; i.e. how Lo is in her years in the music industry’s Junior Club to appreciate the strength it brings. (Not coincidentally, Dirt Femme
is also Lo’s debut album under his own label after completing a four-album collaboration with Island Records 56.) “I think a lot of things happened after the #MeToo movement,” she said of her new perspective on women. “In many situations early in my career, I was the only girl in the room. It affected me in ways I didn’t really understand at the time. Even after high school, when I was playing in this math rock band, we I’m the only girl in every gig I play.
Image: Mart Vares
” But, to be honest, I Think it’s about having a good relationship with someone I can really admit to needing in a healthy way? Lowe continued. “It feels good to be needed.” I keep telling myself that I am fine by myself, that I can handle myself, that I am independent. Even though I still have those traits, I think it’s totally okay to be totally vulnerable with someone and totally intertwined with someone if you feel like you both respect each other and all that. I think it makes me enjoy this more. When I look back at my past records, I used to feel depressed about being vulnerable, in love or fear of losing someone, and now I feel more at peace with it. “
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Almost to celebrate this new chapter, Lo shines Dirt Femme
. Lyrics reference some of the movie’s most epic and passionate lovers – most notably, Tony Scott True Romance, Clarence in
The original, evocative ballad of the same name recorded by the Clarence and Alabama single, Lo’s voice crackles with intensity – she The visual world developed around it also exists on the wide screen. As an independent artist, overseeing every aspect of the process is also liberating. “Being able to do this without compromise is very inspiring to me. Excited,” Lo said. “I thought the album was dramatic, cinematic, and moving. So I wanted the visuals to fit in and have a character for each song. “
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brings us the latest video she released today for her new single “2 Die 4”. (As another tribute to the movie, the song Inspired by a scene in Gus van Sant’s vicious celebrity satire Die to Die in which Ni But Kidman dances in front of the headlights of parked cars.) Lo’s style often has a vampire casualness—think mesh tops, cropped T-shirts, denim shorts—all for a sweaty basement Throwing shape in the club. But as Dirt Femme,
Lo moves to something more conceptual, here transformed into Y2K pop diva to match The song’s lively, effervescent synth (track sampling Hot Butter’s “Popcorn”) and lyrics about making out in the rain.
photo: Matt Varez
in a neon yellow band Dancing au and Fanci Club’s lace-up matching dress by Kreete Pillberg – in the video, Lo collaborates with stylists Annie and Hannah to realize her vision, also wearing a mix of cult designer Chet Lo and retro Tom Ford-era Gucci Class clothes – she looks like a cross between an early Hedkandi video Vixen and Kylie Minogue (Lo’s former collaborator) – ‘s, The heyday of the fever era. (The homage to that period doesn’t end there: as Law writhes in a wading pool with her hedonistic party kids, it’s hard not to think of Christina Aguilera’s infamous David La Chapelle director The visuals 56 “Dirrty”; certainly the precursor to Lo’s vibrant, slutty pop.)
Finally, Lo triumphed, perhaps reborn, in a giant floral headpiece custom-made by British millinery Noel Stewart. “I’ve always had a pretty wild imagination,” Lo says understatement. “And I think that’s why I really wanted to make everything on this record bigger.” “2 Die 4” and Dirt Femme are all uninhibited, sexy, and a little wild – essentially, everything you want from Toflo. “I want to create a world like you re-enter,” she said after a pause. “I want
