Sadness is my boyfriend

Disclaimer: this article was originally written for publication in the University of Manchester Students' Union's newspaper, The Mancunion. As its author also writes for this fabulous blog, it's also on here, however regular readers may note a change in style and voice. Just go with it, pretend you're reading a paper.

Apparently, if Swedish songstress, prolific hipster go-to girl and all-round drama queen Lykke Li “ever got as big as Madonna”, she “would want to run away and die”. As charming as this news is, her message, loud and clear, is that the Top 40 simply isn’t for her. She doesn’t need chart figures or sales numbers, especially not when she is producing material on the level of quality of sophomore effort Wounded Rhymes. Swerving toward an alternative direction from her debut, Li has dropped the endearing frailty and replaced it with neurotic pining flecked with spells of romantic rebellion. Opening track “Youth Knows No Pain” calls for an end to the moping and depression of teenage love, while “Unrequited Love” floats back into the hormonal despair she manages to write about so well.

This slightly bi-polar attitude toward l’amour keeps the listener on their toes throughout, reaching a peak with “Sadness is a Blessing”. Lifting lyrical and instrumental motifs from the up-tempo paens to disappointment pumped out by the House of Motown and turned into anthems by the likes of the Supremes, lines such as ‘Sadness is my boyfriend / Sadness is my girl’ pinpoint the characteristic melancholy stomping she seems to effortlessly produce. Countrywoman Robyn seems to also have the formula locked down, albeit with an electro dance-pop backing track. What is it with these Swedes and their sadness? They love it.

As pleasurable as listening to a consistently brilliant album is, there of course has to be tracks which seem to stand above the rest. “I Follow Rivers”, the album’s second single, re-uses instantly recognisable imprints from “Little Bit” mashed up with aggressive, commanding lyrics. An impressively powerful song, it’s an excellent example of her ever-improving song writing and production skills and why Swedes do it better.