Album of the Week: Queen of the Clouds, by Tove Lo
In case you aren't sure what Tove Lo's delectable debut is about, she provides tidy little subject headings: , , . Each heading introduces a new chapter, which charts that timeless transition from lust to love to loss. As in life, is the longest chapter.
Tove Lo
Island/Universal
In case you aren't sure what Tove Lo's delectable debut is about, she provides tidy little subject headings: , , . Each heading introduces a new chapter, which charts that timeless transition from lust to love to loss. As in life, is the longest chapter.
Tove Lo has more in common with Katy Perry than Lykke Li, but isn't the same old schmaltzy story. Unlike many of the narratives emerging from Tove Lo's female contemporaries, from Ariana Grande to FKA Twigs, this isn't a victim's lament. Tove Lo is complicit: often, she's driving the car to its destruction.
She swings from jubilant to caustic to apologetic to reckless. She's more often sadist than masochist. If a man were singing, that would feel hackneyed. From Tove Lo, it's refreshing.
The album's strongest track is arguably its first - cleverly reverses phallic imagery and power. "That's ma' gun" she sings to the sound of a weapon being cocked. "I'm not easy, but go ahead and touch me now." On , she suggests: "Hey boy, you're too young for me/But I don't care."
Unsurprisingly, is the best chapter.
reminds us what makes pop powerful. Tove Lo never relies on old formulas or feelings: on , she rushes her words in an oddly overstuffed rhythm, like she's racing against the clock. "You made in as I was leaving/You cut in line just as I was getting my stuff/I couldn't decide if you were the most annoying human I'd ever met or just the best thing that ever happened." Her rush creates a rush and it's transcendent.
