Tove Lo's breakthrough came in 2013 with "Habits (Stay High)" - a song about drugs and sex clubs to take her mind off her lovesickness. Her regular exposure on stage and her "masculine demeanor" do the rest to be branded by critics as a "bad role model". Feminists, on the other hand, celebrate her as a self-confident woman who sets an example to others that they do not have to be ashamed of their sexuality.
Nine years after her debut single, the 34-year-old Swede has released her fifth studio album - "Dirt Femme". Even after all these years, most people still can't pronounce her name correctly. "Touf Low" is often wrongly said. In an interview with ntv.de, "Tuwe Lu", as it would be right, talks about femininity, inspiration, prudish Americans and their nipples.
ntv.de: When you look at your interviews, one thing stands out above all: Outside of Sweden, absolutely everyone pronounces your name wrong. Does it disturb you?
Tove Lo: You know, I've talked to a lot of Swedes about it. If you have a name that doesn't exist in another native language, people will always mispronounce it. At the beginning of my career I tried to correct people, but it was often uncomfortable and made them nervous. No matter where I was in the world, there was a different version of Tove Lo everywhere. So I adopted the international way of saying my name and made it my stage name. But when my friends in Los Angeles also started saying "Touf" out of habit, I said to them: No, you have to start calling me Tove.
Congratulations on your new album! Especially "True Romance" is great - a ballad that could have been by Björk.
I love that That's a big compliment, thank you! I recorded "True Romance" in one take with my roommate Tim - his producer name is Tim from the House. It just felt too emotional and too powerful to perfect. This can be challenging but my raspy voice and the imperfections give the chorus so much power.
The rest of the album, on the other hand, is very danceable, more energetic. Was that also due to the bad mood that has prevailed in recent years due to the pandemic?
The record is a combination of the music I like to listen to. I love dance music, I love DJing, I love going to raves. This is the music that makes me feel free and immerses me in the culture of the dance scene. I just really enjoy that, that's why there's so much of it on the album. It was probably also influenced by a subconscious need to get out and dance again. (laughs) But it's also important to me to break that with "True Romance" and "Cute and Cruel".
Did you have an idea in which direction the album should go?
No, I just wrote the lyrics at first, the concept and the visual story came later. But in 2020 I hardly wrote anything because I didn't feel inspired. In 2021 I was unsure where my journey would go. I was out of a record deal and didn't know if I could go on tour again - I didn't know if I had anything to write about at all. So I just wrote about my feelings. My songs are always very personal, but now I've taken my vulnerability one step further, it was like journaling.
It's interesting that you didn't write in 2020 at all. You'd think the pandemic would be ideal for writing about what you're going through during such a difficult time.
I know! I continued to write poetry and small lyrics, but I tried a few studio sessions and it just didn't feel right. Maybe it was because things were so tense and intense here in Los Angeles. But I've been fortunate to live in a house with people I love. Admittedly it was hard not to go on tour and in that sense losing half of my life. But neither I nor people close to me were particularly affected or in danger. I need experiences and need to be out in the world to find inspiration. And I tend to write songs about something after I've been through it myself. But this wasn't about me and writing about how I'm feeling felt a bit spoiled.
You are also active as a songwriter for musicians such as Duffy, Coldplay, Hillary Duff and Adam Lambert. Isn't it harder to write for someone else when your lyrics are so personal?
Not really. When I'm in a room with them, I dig into what they want to say and how they're feeling. Also, we humans often share a lot of experiences, or at least have experienced similar things in general. So you can tap into that and see how they talk about things they've been through. From there it's easy to get inspiration. I just have to somehow say it in her voice and with her experience rather than my own.
You are also responsible for Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do". The song stayed at number one for weeks and you got a Grammy. Looking back, would you have liked to have sung it yourself?
No, I was part of that song, knowing that it's her song. I never thought it was mine. I'm just so proud to be a songwriter. When I hear someone sing something that I was a part of, it's very special. That gives me just as much joy, you know. But if I felt like it was my song, I would have been very upset. (laughs)
Did you think "Love Me Like You Do" would be such a hit?
Yes! Also because of the other songwriters who were also involved, who I trust and believe in. I had a feeling. (laughs)
You not only write many of your songs with your roommate, but also with Ludvig Söderberg. How does this work? You give a direction and you start writing?
That is very different. Ludvig and I usually need a lot of time together. We were on the west coast of Sweden for three weeks, completely isolated, only a small supermarket was open. Sometimes I have prepared some ideas, melodies or chords that I sing to him and he starts playing around with them. Neither of us are real musicians, neither of us really plays an instrument. But that's also what makes his production so unique. Most of the time, though, it starts with a mood or a bit of lyrics. With the intention of a feeling.
But when you wrote "No One Dies From Love", the process was different...
(laughs) Yes, that was the only song I wrote in 2020 - before the pandemic! We took three weeks to come up with a few ideas in Malibu. Normally we can do five, six, seven songs in that time. But we only did one. We both had just been through a lot and we drank a lot, cried, talked and wondered what the point of love is. And so this song slowly started to grow. What we really spent a lot of time on: Sometimes I like it when the melody and the lyrics contrast. But this song just had to go in the same direction. That's what I love about dance music. The slow build-up over two verses to the big release. You finally get what you wanted on the second chorus. In an age where everything should grab you instantly under 30 seconds, it was nice to make something that had a longer journey.
"Dirt Femme" is already a crass title for an album. What do you mean by that?
That's kind of how I identify myself. I have a lot of femininity in me, but I haven't always been in touch with my feminine qualities. It's me now, but there's still that rough side to me.
Your album description also states that you used to see your feminine traits as weaker and that you strengthened your masculine ones to move forward in life. Why did you have to do this?
I was always the only girl - in every songrwiting room, in every studio, in every label meeting, in every place where I played a show, in my rock band in Sweden... Straight men sat across from me everywhere. Too much of one thing eventually becomes toxic. I felt like I was surrounded only by toxic masculinity. At some point I took over that a bit, which made me more respected by the men and invited to more and more sessions because they thought I was "cool". I kept ignoring my feminine qualities, also in my music.
What made you reconsider this behavior?
That changed when I made changes like that
You like to show off your breasts to your audience on stage, a few years ago you made it public that you were pansexual. The reactions to both are sometimes very disturbing. As a confident woman who isn't ashamed of her sexuality, how do you deal with that?
I just don't. I've decided not to give a damn about people who think I'm less worthy or shouldn't have an opinion because I talk about sex and my sexuality, perform lewdly, or enjoy my nudity. I don't have the energy to defend myself in front of them. I'll just keep living my life and doing what I have a right to do and what feels good to me and connects me with the people who agree with me. Because if you're wasting energy on these people, and if you start feeling this need to defend your actions in front of them, they've already won. But what's frustrating is when I have to censor things to avoid getting banned on certain platforms. Then it becomes clear how uneven it is when men or women say something.
Have you been banned from platforms?
Not me personally, but content I've shared. If you see even the hint of a nipple that needs to be covered immediately. It's not because the platform thinks it's wrong, it's because so many are reporting it. It's annoying that people like that have such power.
These people are mostly Americans and not Swedes, right?
Never Sweden! (laughs) No, in Europe it's completely different, they don't care about breasts. It's mostly Brits or Americans who are very prudish.
You've been living in Los Angeles for a few years - a completely different city from Stockholm, with a completely different mentality. Do you like it there?
I love it! It took many years, but I now call it my home. There are many cultural differences, but my circle of friends is the most open-minded, diverse group of people. Everyone accepts each other's choices in life, everyone does their thing, everyone is very supportive. I live in a collective here with my husband and two friends. I'm always in a creative, fun environment, it's very special. But Sweden has many advantages - also in terms of how we treat the people in the country.
People in Los Angeles, when they are shown on television, for example, often come across as fake. When you're there, you're horrified to find that some of it really does correspond to reality - such as the inflationary use of "I love you". Does not it bother you?
(laughs) I see what you mean. I think Swedes and Germans are very similar in that they don't overly flaunt their feelings. There's also less small talk on the streets. But I started enjoying it in L.A. I find it funny how horrified people in Sweden look at me when I'm standing in line to buy a coffee and everyone is silent and suddenly I tell someone I like their shirt. In Los Angeles they have big personalities, I enjoy that. And eventually it becomes easier to tell who is fake and who isn't, even though they say the same thing. But this imbalance suits the city - on the one hand there are absolutely beautiful and clean neighborhoods and two blocks away everything is dirty and dangerous and an absolute chaos.
Linn Penkert spoke to Tove Lo.
Dirt Femme is available now.
