One of Pop’s most fearless artists, Tove Lo, has returned with the new album, ESTRUS, bringing her distinct songwriting and unmistakable dancefloor presence into a new chapter of exploration.
LISTEN NOW: Audacy Check In with Tove Lo
The “I’m your girl right?” singer stopped by our Los Angeles studios recently to talk with Bru, unpacking some of the lyrics of her latest project, looking back on her breakout era, and discussing the balance of personalities that contribute to her ever-evolving career.
“It was such a blend of, 'Oh my god, my dreams are coming true, and is that really real?' and then the culture shock of like Sweden to America,” Tove Lo says of her initial success a decade ago. “Just being kind of excited and terrified all the time."
A long way from “Habits,” Tove Lo’s latest work explores where she is now, oscillating between perfection and messy, and even wondering if she’s meant for motherhood.
“I've been told in therapy throughout my whole life that I have these two personalities inside me,” she reveals. “One is very Type A, perfectionist, mean, very hard on myself, and then the other one is messy, more forgiving, but also can be quite destructive if she's left alone for too long."
"So those two are always battling each other, and finding balance between them is my sweet spot and my lifelong goal, which I still haven't reached.”
Tove Lo admits in songs like “source of life” and “if I could I would,” it’s that “messy” side singing to the “perfectionist,” being “thrown between two very contradicting emotions is kind of that... all the feelings in a pressure cooker ready to come out.”
By writing what she was feeling and not caring what anyone would think about it, Tove Lo unlocked the meaning behind ESTRUS.
"I was like, 'I don't need to have any kind of message.' Like, you're not some kind of inspirational person, you're just an emotional artist,” Tove says. “If I just write from what I need to say, that can become inspirational. But if I try to write something where I'm like, 'This is me giving advice,' who never follows my own advice ever, like, that's not a good place to start.”
For more on the making of ESTRUS, check out the full conversation above.
