Tove Lo

Swedish pop genius Tove Lo made herself known in the year 2014 when she released her wonderful debut record Queen Of The Clouds, which is actually concept album broken into 3 parts: “The Sex,” “The Love,” and “The Pain.” I would say that’s quite an ambitious start to one’s career, especially as an artist who was relatively unknown. So, you could understand my surprise when I decided to give the set an official listen. I was actually quite impressed. As far as modern pop records go, I believe Queen Of The Clouds was able to hold its own and stand out as a great model for what the mainstream market should be looking for. And she was able to stand out, for a good amount of time. Her collaboration with Alesso, “Heroes” was played all over the radio and “Talking Body” and “Habits (Stay High)” were nearly inescapable. But in cases like Charli XCX and her two major hits of the same year “Boom Clap” and “Fancy” with Iggy Azalea, it has become increasingly harder for up and coming pop artists to find and keep a place in the spotlight. In no way does that make Tove Lo any less than other pop artists, but I also wouldn’t say that her newfound underground status makes her better than them either. The other interesting thing about Queen Of The Clouds and each of Tove Lo’s follow-up records is that they each seem to have a specific theme, and appear to be broken up into parts. It makes for a unique listening experience and it allows you to really focus on each individual message that is trying to be conveyed. So, I went back and sat down with Queen Of The Clouds and realized that it was much deeper than I had originally thought. It’s actually a Romantic Pop Tragedy that has been divided into 3 parts of a doomed relationship, and I felt it would be fun to get deeper into the story act by act.

Tove Lo is a singer that has not only taken over the American Music charts, but also taken over my life. I remember hearing her songs through someone at my church and since then I have been hooked. I’m not too sure that my church is still listening to her music with her latest album literally titled after Vag lips, but the youth group was at one time jamming out to “Talking Body.” Her Second album, Lady Wood, is the first part in her theme of getting high and chasing after the high, whether the high is through drugs, life, or love doesn’t matter, the idea is chasing after whatever gives you that sense of euphoria. The first two chapters are housed in this album, Fairy Dust and Fire Fades, and together they make a pretty outstanding and infectious album about the highs and lows of love. The album follows a fun electronic, pop, and at times techno vibe and features her amazingly catchy choruses- I have yet to find a chorus that is not catchy… The album also just serves as an example that Tove Lo has never released a bad song, and even though that is my opinion, it is 100% correct.

Tove Lo released her debut album Queen of the Clouds. The album features a theme that revolves around the stages of a relationship: passion, love, and breakup. The album features an electronic pop sound throughout and plays around with some fun sound bits. The title came about from where she was in her life at the moment. She had just released her EP and was feeling like she was on top of the world, or even the Queen of the clouds… get it? The standard edition of the album features nineteen songs which includes interludes, a couple extra songs, and some remixes. However, it is divided into three parts, one for each key themes, and the first twelve songs follow their suit.

Believe it or not, but I always feel bad when I have to resort to clichés or common places to describe a person, their jobs or situations. I do not know, I feel very ordinary and unintelligent, but sometimes it is impossible not to do it because the brain is full of all those words and phrases that, although they sound obvious and too heard and said by all it is inevitable to resort to them. It is perhaps because of the ease that these prefabricated phrases give us to express what we feel or simply because of mental laziness, but in this case it is because I do not find a better way of saying it; So, here I go: the album Blue Lips by Tove Lo, is To Be Loved. Do you see? I know it sounds very obvious and maybe ridiculous, but it's the truth! Between 2014 and 2015 I came across one or two songs by this Swedish singer, I saw some of her videos and it seemed to me one more. I did not follow her tracks because I came to think that she would soon disappear from the scene and I did not hear from her again until I came across Blue Lips. Of course, at first, I caught the attention to see the cover of the album: a pair of good buttocks wearing a suggestive thong, held with her hand with passion, and certain rudeness in an attitude of inviting something else. And that was what I thought in principle about what I would find in the songs of the album: themes impregnated with eroticism and a good rhythm, but nothing more. How wrong I was! When I came to the fourth song, "Shivering Gold" I said: "what !!!!", this is to be taken very seriously. Before moving on to the song that I just mentioned, in the first 3 tracks, Tove Lo took me to a very disco atmosphere, still at that moment I thought it was good music to dance, it had everything that is needed: a perfect selection of arrangements and sequences with a great depth in the basses that animate anyone even in the most boring disc of a cruise. But, I insist, getting to "Shivering Gold" opened my eyes as to how wrong I was about the idea that had formed me around this artist in the past. Sometimes this type of mistakes cost me to lose true jewels, just because of the prejudices I have about certain musical styles. But, fortunately, this time it was not like that and I was able to recover everything that I had missed from this interpreter and composer who, for me, already belongs to the big leagues.