Stockholm singer Tove Lo is a Grammy nominee who shot to fame with her ‘Habits (Stay High)’ song, which has amassed over 200 million hits on YouTube. Whilst her new album doesn’t have the pure pop sensibilities of the first two records, a greater focus has now been placed on production, with a hazy decadence and sensual underbelly manifesting into what is a fascinating evolution.

Blue Lips still has her at her typical steamy and arousing best, but this time the electro-pop framework is far subtler. The Scandi-pop goddess has a much stronger ear for atmospherics this time around, with each of her pieces coming with fresh beats and synthetics that create a greater ambience than anything she’s previously released.

She’s now also at her most experimental, with jazz-influenced work and deeper keyboard effects more present. What continues on from her first two records though is her characteristically honest, complex and autobiographical lyrical content, which is raw and dives beyond mainstream pop music, with her brooding voice matching perfectly with the electronica.

‘Disco Tits’ was a strange choice for the lead single with its weird little disjointed keyboards stabs, but it works very well, with the alternation between spoken word and melodic singing operating perfectly. This track features in a first half composed of sharply conceived dance numbers such as ‘Shivering Gold’ as well as moodier compositions. The second half then evolves into a more thoughtful beast with deeper lyrical content.

Club banger ‘Bitches’ references unsafe sex before she sings, “Just take the edge off it,” on ‘Strangers’. Next she unpacks relationships in ‘Struggle’. She then leaves it all out in the open for album closer ‘Hey, You Got Drugs?’ in which she announces that she would rather destroy herself in the club than go home alone. The lyrical content is racey in the extreme but still profound enough to warrant it a deeper listen.

The result is an album that cements Tove Lo’s position an idiosyncratic mix of both insider and outsider in the convoluted world of pop music. She’s gradually becoming an expert at crafting songs that show the dark side of being a ‘party girl’. If Lady Wood was the beginning of the night, then Blue Lips is the darker come down period at the end once the lights turn on. Her third LP is packed with colour and personality, which has led to a more immersive and compelling listen compared to its predecessor.

Paul Hill

Website: tove-lo.com
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