Tove Styrke was only 16 when she received her first big break. After coming in third on Swedish Idol, the singer landed a record deal with Sony Sweden and released her debut self-titled album in 2010. The album went platinum in her native Sweden and even earned Styrke a Swedish Grammy nomination.
That was over four years ago and though Styrke took some time away from the spotlight, the singer hasn’t been idle. She’s been hard at work crafting a bunch of new material, resulting in her new Borderline EP. On this fantastic project, she’s created a sound that uniquely draws from her female contemporaries: one part Charli XCX‘s girl-power mantras, one part MØ‘s playfulness, and one part Tove Lo‘s knack for undeniable pop hooks.
Borderline is out today, get it here.
You released your debut album a few years ago after placing third in Swedish Idol, and now you’re back after some time away. What’s the difference between the music you first came out with and this new material?
It’s more personal this time, I think. That time away from the music scene was helpful to me in terms of finding out what it really is that I love about music. It feels like I found my words during that time. My own words and not just sentences that rhyme, but the ability to every now and then succeed in writing down what really goes on inside my head.
Sweden is home to so many huge and incredible pop acts recently, what do you think of that? Does that affect your music at all?
I love it! The fact that there are so many great artists, songwriters and producers living in Sweden really makes my job a lot easier. I really enjoy collaborations and it’s so great that I can do that where I live. With this new material, I’ve been working with a bunch of awesome Swedish folks like Johan T Karlsson (Familjen), Janne Kask, Linnea Henriksson, Calle Ask that I wrote ”Even if I’m loud…” with and Christian Waltz that I worked with on ”Brag”.
When can we expect a full length album and what’s the sound you’re going for on that?
Hopefully next year. I’ve been trying to move around quite freely between different sounds during these past two years. I have gone through a few different creative phases and tried to embrace that. It’s not finished yet, but if I were to guess I’d say that the record’s gonna be very pop, a little bit weird and actually amazing. I’m feeling very happy about it.
