➤ TOVE LO, from p.XX
(which featured Charli XCX, Cardi
B, and Bebe Rexha) didn’t seem
any more advanced than Katy
Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” (Ora only
came out in response to a backlash
to it), “Bitches” is unapologetic
about seeking sexual pleasure
with women, with no men in sight.
On its chorus, Lo sings, “Bitches, I
don’t trust ‘em/ But they give me
what I want for the night… But I
tell ‘em and they do what I like,
why.”
If that chorus could’ve been
written by a man describing his
pursuit of women, “Bad As the
Boys,” the second single from Tove
Lo’s latest album “Sunshine Kitty,”
fl ips it around to describe the pain
of being used and abandoned by a
woman. Inspired by her fi rst crush,
Lo sings about her false expectations
of kindness and devotion: “I
met her in the summer/ Thinking
life will get better/ But she’s gone
now/ Took my heart and sunk it.”
Scandinavia has loomed large
over 21st century pop. Max Martin,
who started out as the singer
of the ‘80s Swedish hair metal
band It’s Alive, transformed into
one of the past 25 years’ most popular
songwriters and producers,
working with the Backstreet Boys,
Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Taylor
Swift, Nicki Minaj, and Ariana
Grande, among many others. (On
“Sunshine Kitty,” he co-wrote Lo’s
“Mateo” and “Equally Lost.”)
One of his early clients, Robyn,
made a classic dance-pop album
with “Body Talk” in 2010; her
American audience has grown to
the point where “Dancing On Your
Own” (a song that every gay bar
seems obliged to play on an hourly
basis) went platinum this year and
she can now sell out Madison Garden.
The Norwegian singer Sigrid’s
“Sucker Punch” is one of 2019’s
best pop albums.
Robyn’s music succeeds in large
part due to the contrast between
icy electronic production and the
warmth and emotion of her vocals.
The synthesizer melodies running
through this album follow suit.
“Sunshine Kitty” combines raunchy
and bummed-out lyrics with
dance tracks. (“Habits” doesn’t
actually make sex, drugs, and
rock’n’roll sound like much fun; its
verses set Lo’s vocals on top of a
grimly driving beat, although its
chorus has a more upbeat EDM
feel.) The production relies on
trap percussion, often mixing it
with acoustic guitars for a tropical
sound. The album closer “Anywhere
U Go” brings out electric
guitars for the fi rst time.
Lo’s videos are quite witty. The
visual for “Bitches” shows the
song’s singers (the remix features
Charli XCX, Icona Pop, Elliphant,
and Alma) teaching a very unconventional
couples therapy session
involving dog collars and cages.
“Glad He’s Gone” opens with a
buzzing ringtone and riffs on the
omnipresence of phones, taking it
to absurd but awesome lengths. In
the video’s fi rst half, Lo talks to a
friend while dangling from a helicopter,
standing on top of a train,
and walking through a wide variety
of natural landscapes. She kills
a man and gets arrested, but don’t
worry because she manages to
blow up a prison toilet and escape,
all while holding her phone.
Lo nods to her infl uences by
singing a duet with Kylie Minogue
on “Really don’t like u.” She also
includes elements of hip-hop by
featuring the Brazilian rapper MC
Zaac on “Are U gonna tell her” and
Doja Cat (who has an unfortunate
history of homophobic tweets) on
“Equally Lost.”
If her music is intended for an
audience that’s largely Anglophone,
it also takes into account the fact
that it’s reaching the entire globe.
The fact that her fl irtation with Jax
Jones on “Jacques” includes singing
“Je m’appelle Tove” isn’t exactly
groundbreaking, but MC Zaac performs
in Portuguese.
Lo remains frank about her embrace
of desire for both men and
women. “Glad He’s Gone” and “Bad
As the Boys” casually drop references
to oral sex and fi ngering.
If the music on “Sunshine Kitty”
isn’t groundbreaking, it’s still wellcrafted
pop.
While her team-up with Minogue
turned out disappointingly generic,
the album’s best songs describe
emotions and situations that ring
true, supported by powerful songwriting.
TOVE LO | “Sunshine Kitty” | Island
Records | tove-lo.com
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