In an industry populated by meticulously crafted personas, pop star Tove Lo has succeeded in being unapologetically herself.
The Swedish singer — who writes about the broad, messy and heart-breaking spectrum of the human experience — will open for Demi Lovato at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on February 3. This, as part of annual music festival RedFestDXB and her first visit to the city.
“We’re starting our US tour the day after,” she told Gulf News tabloid!. “So we’re basically flying in, playing a show and then leaving, which is a bit sad, because I know there are a million things to see.”
Ahead of the gig, she got real about the double standards facing women in music and why she doesn’t plan to censor herself anytime soon.
Your song Cool Girl took on a life of its own last year. Were you ever the cool girl growing up, or were you more of a misfit?
I was somewhere in the middle. I went to a music high school and we didn’t really have groups like that there. You were very accepted for however you wanted to be. There was no bullying in that way. I was probably cool-girl-on-my-way-to-misfit in junior high, and then when I came to the music high school, I was like, ‘Oh, this is what it should be.’
How has your approach to song-writing changed after releasing both your first and second album?
I feel a lot more secure, but I’m also way more self-critical. I know I’ll get there, I know I’ll get the song there, but I’m not in a rush to get it done. [Once you release a song] it’s going to be around forever; it’s out there. So why rush it?
Your album Lady Wood is part of a double record you’re working on. Where are you at with part two?
It’s always the last ten, or twenty per cent that takes the longest to make perfect. I’m in and out of the studio while touring, so I’m getting it done simultaneously.
Do you think you’ll release it this year?
I hope so. But I’m not making any promises.
You’ve been praised for your honest story-telling and song-writing. Did you ever face resistance to that honesty?
It’s funny. I was in the studio now in Stockholm with one of my producers, wrapping up one of the songs for the second part of [Lady Wood]. One of the lines is pretty upfront and dirty. At first he was like, ‘Does she have to be this annoying? Why does she always have to put everything out there?’ But [now] he’s like, ‘I love it, I feel it.’ I’m just like, ‘Why not? I’m not ashamed of it, just let me say it.’
Do you feel like there’s a double standard with regards to that in the industry?
Oh, totally. I got upset [when] I read this article about The Weeknd, who I love, I’m a huge fan — I think he says things very much in his [own] way. I’m not comparing us as artists, because I think we’re very, very different, but we sing about some of the same subjects. [The article] describes him as this deep, dark soul that is a loner, who is going through all these things and has a complex mind, whereas they portrayed me more as, like, ‘Yeah, she’s a party girl that still sings about sex and drugs.’ Honestly, there’s way more layers to everything that I’m saying... It’s almost like, if you’re a woman or girl, you shouldn’t want to be upfront and honest about maybe not being the ideal citizen. It’s okay to be a rock star if you’re a man, but not if you’re a woman. It’s changing, though. There [are] so many girls now who are so unapologetic, Rihanna being one of them, and Charli XCX and Lorde. [Artists who are] like, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do, here’s what I’m going to say, and you can think what you want, but I’m still going to be me and not make excuses.’
Don’t miss it!
G-Eazy, Sean Paul, Daya and The Veronicas will perform at RedFestDXB on February 2; Demi Lovato, Mike Posner, Tove Lo and Alessia Cara will take over on February 3. Tickets, available from redfestdxb.com, are Dh395-Dh1195.
