Lykke Li (2008)
Interview Background
Scandinavia has long laid claim to some of pop’s greatest stars, with ABBA, Roxette and Ace Of Base breaking records before a new wave brought The Knife, Robyn and Zara Larsson. At the time of this interview in 2008, Lykke Li was a new Swedish indie pop star on the scene. We already had a few cracking pop songs for the year from Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Ladyhawke and Ida Maria, but Lykke’s tunes had a completely different air to them. Pop, yes, but with a personal element lacking from the singles charts. Lykki Li’s debut deftly explored both defiance and fragility, removing the gloss for something raw, deep and heartfelt. Her interview style was similar: this young pop star was ready to dispute, clarify and prevent misconceptions about her story and songs – as any artist should.
The last time I saw Lykke Li was in an LAX airport lounge just as COVID-19 started locking down the globe. She was slumped in a chair and fastidiously watching her phone. I considered approaching her to let her know her utterly mesmerising third album I Never Learn was one of my all time favourites, but I decided not to impose. Her music was enough.
The following is an edited version of an interview first published in Rip It Up, October 2008.
Lykke Li - Tainted Love
by Scott McLennan
Swedish singer Lykke Li is quite the enigma. Shy yet strident. Demure yet determined. Introspective yet international. The 22-year-old’s conflicting emotional signals are outlined in breathtakingly personal detail on her debut album Youth Novels. Lykke tells Rip It Up that the constant tussle between her creative and introverted facets is what makes Youth Novels so compelling.
“It’s just the way I am,” the New York-based songwriter admits. “What if I didn’t have my creativity? That would be sad. So I’m happy I have that because it saves me. It lets me be very strong and in control and powerful. In real life everything else is quite hard, but that’s the way it is and I’m not complaining. People are in war – there’s tougher things going on than that.”
Nomadically raised by a musician father and photographer mother in various countries across the globe, a teenaged Lykke moved to New York to become a pop star. Alone and without any contacts, the strong-minded Swede suffered through months in an apartment without a bed or windows.
“In New York there are rats here everywhere, but they were in the fucking apartment. I mostly had mice. I was sleeping on the floor so sometimes they’d run over me. I’d have mice in my ear – it was crazy. It was a really shitty place with no windows, just mice and cockroaches in this shitty apartment.”
Collaborating with Bjorn Yttling back in Sweden, the resulting Youth Novels is a gorgeous debut built on quiet resolve. Written in the wake of a relationship collapse, Lykke refuses to let the heartbreak and fragility of Youth Novels stand in the way of her career. Already the burgeoning artist has starred in colourful features for Blender, Fader and Spin.
“I’m very fragile, but just because you’re fragile doesn’t mean you don’t want to look great. I had my heart broken, but that’s not what the whole album is about. A lot of us have had our heart broken, but half the album is about that and the other half is about my insecurities and trying to see a reason why I am who I am. I’m trying to find a cure for my loneliness - it’s not only about some dude who broke my heart.”
Lykke admits performing touching Youth Novels songs such as Let It Fall and Tonight can bring her to tears.
“Sometimes I do. I think it’s a good thing to let your emotions show and be honest and true. I like it when people give it their all, so it’s not so strange.”
There’s already been some discussion about the lyric to Lykke’s song Little Bit, particularly the line, ‘for you I keep my legs apart and forget about my tainted heart’. It indicates the protagonist is having sex for the sake of their partner rather than for their own enjoyment.
“Well it’s not really that simple,” Lykke asserts. “It’s not only about having sex. Everyone thinks they know what it means, but it means a lot of different things because a relationship is very complex and making love is very complex. It’s not just about having sex – it’s a deeper thing. Even though I enjoy it, it can get to you on another level.”
Reading biographies and autobiographies of other musicians has assisted Lykke in learning how to deal with fame. The singer recently read the late Rick James’ autobiography, The Confessions Of Rick James: Memoirs Of A Super Freak.
“It was great. He was crazy but cool. I read the Edith Piaf book and got obsessed by her, I read Billie Holiday’s and when I was a kid I read Michael Jackson’s. It’s been really good and helpful for me seeing what others are going through. It’s a comfort knowing that there are people out there that feel the same as you do, you’ve just got to be creative and make something out of it.”
What would be the most interesting chapter in the Lykke Li autobiography?
“I think it hasn’t come yet. I think it will be the next level of my life.”
With Youth Novels earning critical praise as its staggered release permeates the globe, Lykke has had little time to rest since she issued her initial singles last year. Although Youth Novels offers just a hint of her promising talents, the fiercely independent star shows little fear of exiting the music industry if she tires of it.
“Basically the last year I have not had a private life – I’m just touring all over the place,” Lykke sighs. “At the same time you have to take the chance while you’ve got it and not be a spoilt brat. But I’m not scared – if I don’t enjoy this industry I’m not going to keep doing it. There are other things to do. I really hope that I stay brave and honest, so if I don’t enjoy it I won’t do it anymore. It has to be a passionate thing – it can’t be about anything else other than music. Once it becomes more like an addiction like fame or money I don’t want to do it anymore. That’s when it becomes dirty.”
To further add to her mystery, Lykke admits that the missing letters, red words and layout of Youth Novels’ CD booklet are part of a code.
“It is, but I can’t say it. It’s a secret.”
Is it a message to someone?
“I can’t say, it’s secret. That would be like writing The Da Vinci Code and you’re like, ‘So! What’s the secret?’ and I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”
But with The Da Vinci Code you can read to the end and find the answer – with your code we can’t find an answer unless you tell us.
“No, but maybe it’s going to come in the second record I do. Then you might find out, but I can’t give it away right now.”
Well it’s certainly very interesting – do you like a good treasure hunt?
“Yeah, I like it. Life is a treasure hunt.”
Youth Novels (Warner)
Unpublished Interview Material
Hi Lykke, how are you?
“I’m good. How are you? I’m in New York. I’m trying to clean my room. I’ve been having a busy schedule so I’m dropping off tonnes of stuff – there’s stuff everywhere – clothes and God knows what.”
Have you been getting any free clothes as your popularity increases?
“I don’t get that many free clothes but I love vintage shopping. I buy tonnes of vintage and then I throw them in my room – now I have to find something to wear tonight so I’ll have to look under my bed to find something spectacular.”
Do you go for a specific look when you’re on stage?
“I don’t want a specific look, I just want to look fabulous of course! Yesterday I had the most fabulous outfit ever I think. It was high waisted black vintage Fendi like Prince and then I showed a part of my belly and then a Gaultier big black top with shoulder pads. I have good style!”
The artwork for Youth Novels is quite muted and tonal – do you enjoy colours too when you’re performing?
“When I’m black I’m fierce.”
Congratulations on Youth Novels – it seems to be doing amazing things all around the world.
"Yeah, it’s amazing, right? People still want good music, which is amazing."
Who are you favourite live performers then?
“I don’t know – I haven’t really seen a lot of people that I really like lately, but I saw Bon Iver and he was really good. I like Nina Simone, Tina Turner and Little Richard – everybody who means what they sing. All the great artists do that – Edith Piaf, Michael Jackson, Tom Waits, Prince, whoever.”
[In relation to living in a rat-infested home]. Do you think living around the world and experiencing a lot of different communities helped you deal with poor conditions others would see as quite horrid?
“I think it’s good. I think it’s kind of weird when people just stay in their country and think that’s the world. It’s not the world. The world is round and you should see it. It’s not just your four walls and your school and your friends. The world is a desert and I think it’s good to experience it.”
Do you feel worldly or do you feel there’s a lot more to explore?
“Oh God, I have so much to explore yet. I’m very much looking forward to Australia. I lived in Portugal and can speak Portuguese, because I went to school there. I used to be able to write in Portuguese when I was younger but now I can’t, which is very sad.”
Apparently your earliest memory is staying in Morocco with an Algerian prostitute?
“Yeah.”
That’s a strange first memory to have.
“Not really. She was really nice and everybody’s got to make a living. You can’t blame her for having to make a living.”
And you have adopted sisters from Tibet?
“They’re not adopted – that’s been misquoted. My Mum couldn’t have kids at first and she got sponsor children. They weren’t adopted, we just met with them every winter and they would spend winter with us in India. We’d send money to them every month, but it’s not like adoption. Mum started this Tibet/Nepal foundation, so we get sponsors for this school. I’ve just got myself a child and I pay for her tuition every year to go to school. Everybody should have that.”
There’s a Robyn version of I’m Good I’m Gone not on the album – was that ever planned to be released?
“I don’t know Robyn that well, but we’ve performed a few times together. I haven’t known her for that long and I didn’t know her when I did the album, but we did a show and then I asked her if she wanted to sing on that [video]. It’s not only Robyn – a lot of my friends are in that video’s special performance.”
I read you admire Madonna?
“I know it says in my bio that I wanted to be Madonna, but that’s not really serious. I don’t at all want to be like her. That would be terrible. I admire Mother Teresa or Gandhi more than Madonna.”
You seem in control of what you’re doing though – are the record company trying to push you around and make you do anything you don’t want to do?
“They never make me do things creatively I don’t want to do. The only thing they make me do is press, and maybe sometimes I won’t be so up for doing that. I don’t think it’s really necessary talking about it because it’s obvious – I did a record! That’s the thing I don’t like, that I have to talk about my record all the time or myself because it’s tiring. I’d rather be doing creative stuff, but of course they make me work [giggles] that’s what they make me do. They never say, ‘You should make this kind of music’ or ‘That’s how you should make a video’ though – never ever.”
Scandinavia has long laid claim to some of pop’s greatest stars, with ABBA, Roxette and Ace Of Base breaking records before a new wave brought The Knife, Robyn and Zara Larsson. At the time of this interview in 2008, Lykke Li was a new Swedish indie pop star on the scene. We already had a few cracking pop songs for the year from Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Ladyhawke and Ida Maria, but Lykke’s tunes had a completely different air to them. Pop, yes, but with a personal element lacking from the singles charts. Lykki Li’s debut deftly explored both defiance and fragility, removing the gloss for something raw, deep and heartfelt. Her interview style was similar: this young pop star was ready to dispute, clarify and prevent misconceptions about her story and songs – as any artist should.
The last time I saw Lykke Li was in an LAX airport lounge just as COVID-19 started locking down the globe. She was slumped in a chair and fastidiously watching her phone. I considered approaching her to let her know her utterly mesmerising third album I Never Learn was one of my all time favourites, but I decided not to impose. Her music was enough.
The following is an edited version of an interview first published in Rip It Up, October 2008.
Lykke Li - Tainted Love
by Scott McLennan
Swedish singer Lykke Li is quite the enigma. Shy yet strident. Demure yet determined. Introspective yet international. The 22-year-old’s conflicting emotional signals are outlined in breathtakingly personal detail on her debut album Youth Novels. Lykke tells Rip It Up that the constant tussle between her creative and introverted facets is what makes Youth Novels so compelling.
“It’s just the way I am,” the New York-based songwriter admits. “What if I didn’t have my creativity? That would be sad. So I’m happy I have that because it saves me. It lets me be very strong and in control and powerful. In real life everything else is quite hard, but that’s the way it is and I’m not complaining. People are in war – there’s tougher things going on than that.”
Nomadically raised by a musician father and photographer mother in various countries across the globe, a teenaged Lykke moved to New York to become a pop star. Alone and without any contacts, the strong-minded Swede suffered through months in an apartment without a bed or windows.
“In New York there are rats here everywhere, but they were in the fucking apartment. I mostly had mice. I was sleeping on the floor so sometimes they’d run over me. I’d have mice in my ear – it was crazy. It was a really shitty place with no windows, just mice and cockroaches in this shitty apartment.”
Collaborating with Bjorn Yttling back in Sweden, the resulting Youth Novels is a gorgeous debut built on quiet resolve. Written in the wake of a relationship collapse, Lykke refuses to let the heartbreak and fragility of Youth Novels stand in the way of her career. Already the burgeoning artist has starred in colourful features for Blender, Fader and Spin.
“I’m very fragile, but just because you’re fragile doesn’t mean you don’t want to look great. I had my heart broken, but that’s not what the whole album is about. A lot of us have had our heart broken, but half the album is about that and the other half is about my insecurities and trying to see a reason why I am who I am. I’m trying to find a cure for my loneliness - it’s not only about some dude who broke my heart.”
Lykke admits performing touching Youth Novels songs such as Let It Fall and Tonight can bring her to tears.
“Sometimes I do. I think it’s a good thing to let your emotions show and be honest and true. I like it when people give it their all, so it’s not so strange.”
There’s already been some discussion about the lyric to Lykke’s song Little Bit, particularly the line, ‘for you I keep my legs apart and forget about my tainted heart’. It indicates the protagonist is having sex for the sake of their partner rather than for their own enjoyment.
“Well it’s not really that simple,” Lykke asserts. “It’s not only about having sex. Everyone thinks they know what it means, but it means a lot of different things because a relationship is very complex and making love is very complex. It’s not just about having sex – it’s a deeper thing. Even though I enjoy it, it can get to you on another level.”
Reading biographies and autobiographies of other musicians has assisted Lykke in learning how to deal with fame. The singer recently read the late Rick James’ autobiography, The Confessions Of Rick James: Memoirs Of A Super Freak.
“It was great. He was crazy but cool. I read the Edith Piaf book and got obsessed by her, I read Billie Holiday’s and when I was a kid I read Michael Jackson’s. It’s been really good and helpful for me seeing what others are going through. It’s a comfort knowing that there are people out there that feel the same as you do, you’ve just got to be creative and make something out of it.”
What would be the most interesting chapter in the Lykke Li autobiography?
“I think it hasn’t come yet. I think it will be the next level of my life.”
With Youth Novels earning critical praise as its staggered release permeates the globe, Lykke has had little time to rest since she issued her initial singles last year. Although Youth Novels offers just a hint of her promising talents, the fiercely independent star shows little fear of exiting the music industry if she tires of it.
“Basically the last year I have not had a private life – I’m just touring all over the place,” Lykke sighs. “At the same time you have to take the chance while you’ve got it and not be a spoilt brat. But I’m not scared – if I don’t enjoy this industry I’m not going to keep doing it. There are other things to do. I really hope that I stay brave and honest, so if I don’t enjoy it I won’t do it anymore. It has to be a passionate thing – it can’t be about anything else other than music. Once it becomes more like an addiction like fame or money I don’t want to do it anymore. That’s when it becomes dirty.”
To further add to her mystery, Lykke admits that the missing letters, red words and layout of Youth Novels’ CD booklet are part of a code.
“It is, but I can’t say it. It’s a secret.”
Is it a message to someone?
“I can’t say, it’s secret. That would be like writing The Da Vinci Code and you’re like, ‘So! What’s the secret?’ and I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”
But with The Da Vinci Code you can read to the end and find the answer – with your code we can’t find an answer unless you tell us.
“No, but maybe it’s going to come in the second record I do. Then you might find out, but I can’t give it away right now.”
Well it’s certainly very interesting – do you like a good treasure hunt?
“Yeah, I like it. Life is a treasure hunt.”
Youth Novels (Warner)
Unpublished Interview Material
Hi Lykke, how are you?
“I’m good. How are you? I’m in New York. I’m trying to clean my room. I’ve been having a busy schedule so I’m dropping off tonnes of stuff – there’s stuff everywhere – clothes and God knows what.”
Have you been getting any free clothes as your popularity increases?
“I don’t get that many free clothes but I love vintage shopping. I buy tonnes of vintage and then I throw them in my room – now I have to find something to wear tonight so I’ll have to look under my bed to find something spectacular.”
Do you go for a specific look when you’re on stage?
“I don’t want a specific look, I just want to look fabulous of course! Yesterday I had the most fabulous outfit ever I think. It was high waisted black vintage Fendi like Prince and then I showed a part of my belly and then a Gaultier big black top with shoulder pads. I have good style!”
The artwork for Youth Novels is quite muted and tonal – do you enjoy colours too when you’re performing?
“When I’m black I’m fierce.”
Congratulations on Youth Novels – it seems to be doing amazing things all around the world.
"Yeah, it’s amazing, right? People still want good music, which is amazing."
Who are you favourite live performers then?
“I don’t know – I haven’t really seen a lot of people that I really like lately, but I saw Bon Iver and he was really good. I like Nina Simone, Tina Turner and Little Richard – everybody who means what they sing. All the great artists do that – Edith Piaf, Michael Jackson, Tom Waits, Prince, whoever.”
[In relation to living in a rat-infested home]. Do you think living around the world and experiencing a lot of different communities helped you deal with poor conditions others would see as quite horrid?
“I think it’s good. I think it’s kind of weird when people just stay in their country and think that’s the world. It’s not the world. The world is round and you should see it. It’s not just your four walls and your school and your friends. The world is a desert and I think it’s good to experience it.”
Do you feel worldly or do you feel there’s a lot more to explore?
“Oh God, I have so much to explore yet. I’m very much looking forward to Australia. I lived in Portugal and can speak Portuguese, because I went to school there. I used to be able to write in Portuguese when I was younger but now I can’t, which is very sad.”
Apparently your earliest memory is staying in Morocco with an Algerian prostitute?
“Yeah.”
That’s a strange first memory to have.
“Not really. She was really nice and everybody’s got to make a living. You can’t blame her for having to make a living.”
And you have adopted sisters from Tibet?
“They’re not adopted – that’s been misquoted. My Mum couldn’t have kids at first and she got sponsor children. They weren’t adopted, we just met with them every winter and they would spend winter with us in India. We’d send money to them every month, but it’s not like adoption. Mum started this Tibet/Nepal foundation, so we get sponsors for this school. I’ve just got myself a child and I pay for her tuition every year to go to school. Everybody should have that.”
There’s a Robyn version of I’m Good I’m Gone not on the album – was that ever planned to be released?
“I don’t know Robyn that well, but we’ve performed a few times together. I haven’t known her for that long and I didn’t know her when I did the album, but we did a show and then I asked her if she wanted to sing on that [video]. It’s not only Robyn – a lot of my friends are in that video’s special performance.”
I read you admire Madonna?
“I know it says in my bio that I wanted to be Madonna, but that’s not really serious. I don’t at all want to be like her. That would be terrible. I admire Mother Teresa or Gandhi more than Madonna.”
You seem in control of what you’re doing though – are the record company trying to push you around and make you do anything you don’t want to do?
“They never make me do things creatively I don’t want to do. The only thing they make me do is press, and maybe sometimes I won’t be so up for doing that. I don’t think it’s really necessary talking about it because it’s obvious – I did a record! That’s the thing I don’t like, that I have to talk about my record all the time or myself because it’s tiring. I’d rather be doing creative stuff, but of course they make me work [giggles] that’s what they make me do. They never say, ‘You should make this kind of music’ or ‘That’s how you should make a video’ though – never ever.”
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