Tove Lo joins Zane Lowe live in studio on Apple Music 1 to discuss her forthcoming album ‘Dirt Femme’. She tells Apple Music why she thinks it’s her best album yet and discusses exploring femininity on the project, album tracks “Grapefruit” and “Suburbia”, her love/hate relationship with social media, collaborating with Channel Tres, getting married in Vegas, and more.
Tove Lo Tells Apple Music Her New Album ‘Dirt Femme’ Is Her Best One Yet…
Honestly, I don’t know if I say this before every album, but I do feel like this is my best one yet. So yeah. It’s making me extra nervous. Feels extra special. I think it reminds me of writing my first album actually when it was me in my bedroom, just my emotional thoughts and everything. But then combined with this longing to be back out in the world and around people, because I thrive so much on being around people and being around energy on the dance floor. Still a rave kid at heart. So the contradiction of really dancing beats with sad lyrics, it’s my favorite. Once I started feeling like when I had about five or six songs that are currently on the album, I started to be, “I think this might be really good, I think.” But also when you haven’t released something in a very long time, it can… I don’t know, just your confidence waivers a little. “Am I still with it? Do I still have something to say? Do people still want to hear my thoughts and my feelings?” Because this album, all of them are about me and what I go through. And I think sometimes you… Also, I guess, after being isolated and living a different life than when I started out, obviously, “Am I still in touch with the people who love my music?”
On About Eloping in Vegas…
I also got married, which was the other… we went to Vegas with a handful of our friends and just did it. Our parents weren’t very happy about it. They were like, “That’s not real. When is the real wedding?” I don’t think that will happen.
On Her Love/Hate Relationship with Social Media…
I feel like at the end of the day, we just want to meet up and be together. Even if it’s once a week or even if you prefer working from home, I think you at some point want to go out and look another person in the eye. And I also think it doesn’t matter how real you are on any of the social media apps. I feel like you as a person in real life is still something different. You give out a different energy than what… Because what you show on there is what you want to be like. It’s not necessarily what you are like. And I feel like I also love it. I have so much fun on there. I love watching a cat drinking milk and then someone does a drum beat to that and then someone does a crazy bass line and then someone does a full backing choir. I love that stuff. I hang out on the wholesome part of it.
On Exploring Her Relationship with Femininity on the Album and Opening Up on the Song “Grapefruit”…
I think I’m touching on some subjects as a woman where I feel like a lot of it has to do with my relationship with my femininity. And it might not be super clear in all the songs, but it just kind of feels like the overall me battling how I used to look at my feminine traits, to where I’m at with them now, and how it’s helped and hurt me throughout my life, I guess. And I feel like with songs like Grapefruit, which I talk about my body issues as a teenager, which I’ve never really touched on before, I think I needed a good amount of years to be well from it before I could discuss it publicly maybe.And that song just kind of happened. And it’s too, again, sad banger dance track, but with this sort of really quite dark, intense lyrics. And I feel like that one is… I just feel proud of myself for daring to go there.
On Her Song “Suburbia”…
It’s so on the line, and it’s me being married and being a queer woman in a straight marriage… and then struggling with the idea of the traditional, “Oh, am I supposed to move to a suburb now with… We’re going to have kids and just have small talk with our neighbors about what we’re fixing on the house?” And I was like, “There’s nothing wrong with that life.” I have a lot of friends who live that life. And I played this song for a few of my friends who have kids, and they were not happy with it. Because I’m kind of like, “I don’t know if I want this.”
On Collaborating With Channel Tres and First Aid Kit on Her New Album…
And I think also with this album being so written from such a personal place, it was really about where will it feel natural for this person to come in? And if it’s with Channel Tres and First Aid Kit, it’s lending their voice and their expression to it. How is that going to naturally work? But then I saw Channel Tres live. I was just blown away by his performance and always loved the music. And so when I reached out, I was like, “Attention Whore is a perfect song for this.” And he just elevated it so much. You know when you feel like this is a great song? There’s just something’s missing. There’s a last ingredient missing and just his tone and his lyrics, everything was just perfect for that.
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