Buried in my vast "to do list, Lykke Li has built up some serious noise over the last few months, with both her serious connections in the Swedish musical community and, more importantly, her own music. Her real name is Lykke Zahrisson and her list of friends is impressive: Shout Out Louds, who she sang back-up for on Our Ill Wills; Peter Bjorn & John, who she played some gigs with filling in the girl vocals for "Young Folks, and whose Bjorn Yttling acted as producer on her full-length, Youth Novels; and check the video below for "Im Good, Im Gone, an all-Swede orgy featuring Robyn (!), Adam and Bebban from Shout Out Louds and Daniel from the Concretes, among others.
Its good to have friends in high places, but Lykke can certainly hold her own. Shes been tipped to be the next Annie, Robyn, Taken By Trees, Sally Shapiro and Stina Nordenstam, though if you give this more than just a superficial once over, youll find that besides the fact shes Scandinavian and a lady, Lykke has sculpted her own style. Sure, she shares some similarities with each of those artists, like the ability to sound vulnerable, assured and celestial, but her arrangements are much more complex (read: the instrumentation is all over the place) and less rooted in pop conventions (read: words like "electro, "disco, "bubblegum or "indie pop are not welcome here) despite the fact that she has a voice fit for commercial consumption.
Lykkes MySpace is brimming with samples, leaving it difficult to chose just one. Single "Little Bit is a good start, with the dramatic lean in its melody, a brilliant rhythm and use of percussion, and a chorus her very Swedish hesitancy with the line "Im a little bit in love with you consider it an attempt at R&B by the Swedes. Definitely a single of the year candidate. (And yes, I know it was originally released last fall.)
No word yet on a domestic release for Youth Novels, but its out there in cyberspace to discover. Or you can just buy it here. Its worth the astronomical import price.
Lykke Li "Little Bit
Lykke Li "Everybody But Me (Rocca Mix)
"Little Bit
"I´m Good, I´m Gone - Acoustic live version with guests: Robyn, Adam & Bebban (Shout Out Louds), Daniel (The Concretes), Lars (Laakso) and Mikael (Hjalmar)
Its good to have friends in high places, but Lykke can certainly hold her own. Shes been tipped to be the next Annie, Robyn, Taken By Trees, Sally Shapiro and Stina Nordenstam, though if you give this more than just a superficial once over, youll find that besides the fact shes Scandinavian and a lady, Lykke has sculpted her own style. Sure, she shares some similarities with each of those artists, like the ability to sound vulnerable, assured and celestial, but her arrangements are much more complex (read: the instrumentation is all over the place) and less rooted in pop conventions (read: words like "electro, "disco, "bubblegum or "indie pop are not welcome here) despite the fact that she has a voice fit for commercial consumption.
Lykkes MySpace is brimming with samples, leaving it difficult to chose just one. Single "Little Bit is a good start, with the dramatic lean in its melody, a brilliant rhythm and use of percussion, and a chorus her very Swedish hesitancy with the line "Im a little bit in love with you consider it an attempt at R&B by the Swedes. Definitely a single of the year candidate. (And yes, I know it was originally released last fall.)
No word yet on a domestic release for Youth Novels, but its out there in cyberspace to discover. Or you can just buy it here. Its worth the astronomical import price.
Lykke Li "Little Bit
Lykke Li "Everybody But Me (Rocca Mix)
"Little Bit
"I´m Good, I´m Gone - Acoustic live version with guests: Robyn, Adam & Bebban (Shout Out Louds), Daniel (The Concretes), Lars (Laakso) and Mikael (Hjalmar)
