Lykke Li – Free Style, Nothing Planned, Yet Great

Although she admits she does not know English well, it doesn’t prevent Lykke Li from singing in English and winning over English fans.

Alen Balen spoke with young Swedish pop star Lykke Li, who is becoming famous on the international music scene, for the Backstage show of Plavi Radio.

Tell us the story behind the song Breaking It Up.

I was in this situation, that I was kinda like having an affair with somebody that I knew that I didn't really have time for.  Or liked.  So it's like breaking it up from my point of view, you know when you kinda break it up before it's begun, so you kinda break it off even though it's not a relationship yet, so it's just before.  The anti-climax I guess.

There's a great video that goes with the song, in which you dance quite a bit. Are you a professionally trained dancer?  

People think I used to be like a dancer, but I danced when I was a kid, but you know people play football and some people dance.  I wasn't like a professional dancer but I liked dancing a lot, but I'm not, I've never been a dancer in that kind of way.  And the video, I wanted to bring out that feeling so we kind of just put the music on and then we freestyled so it was not you know planned or anything.  But it was a good time.

Who produced the album and how did the collaboration come about?

Yes it was Björn from Peter Björn and John who produced the album, and I basically got his number 'cos I was looking for a producer to do some demos with me.  And this was before they were really big.  So I got his number and then I called him and then we had like a little, we drank coffee and talked about what I wanted to do, and we really clicked. And then we started working and it was a match made in heaven. 

Were you a fan of Björn Yttling before you started working with him?

Not really, I didn't know them.  I had no idea who they were.  They kind of blew up after Young Folks and I met him just before they blew up so they were not big at all in Sweden, and I haven't, didn't hear the music.  So I had no idea.

What is the Swedish music scene like and why are so many bands and artists doing so well outside of the country?

For me I don't think it's weird or you know, if you look at England they have great music too, and so for me it's not really any difference.  But I guess it's a climate thing maybe.  We don't have a lot of sun, so we stay inside and work on creative stuff instead.  But it's not really like a scene that everybody knows each other and that we play a lot live together 'cos there is, the scene is quite dead actually.  I mean it's like nothing really going on.  All the bands that are making good music, they're abroad, so I mean, you know Peter Bjorn and John are not big in Sweden at all.

Why do Swedish artists do so well in the UK specifically?

I don't know, I think we kinda touch on a feeling that people enjoy.  I don't know if it's like a pop sense or something, but it's good songs that people can relate to.

Are there any producers you've met that you'd like to work with on the next album?

I mean I met a lot of great artists that I really like, but you never know like if it's gonna be good if you work together.  But there's a bunch of people out there, there's one producer that's called John Hill that's been working Santogold that's really good as well, so I'm gonna be working with some different people for the next album, but I don't really know exactly right now, who.

Are there any singer-songwriters that you'd particularly like to collaborate with?

  I love a singer called, his band is called Bon Iver, that I really really love.  And I would love to do something with him.  And my friend Marpey.  And I don't know. I'm just gonna stumble upon things I think.

How do you find writing lyrics in English, considering that it's not your native language?

I don't know, I'm quite bad at talking at English.  But I don't know.  Everything I read, like all the songs that I've been listening to growing up, they are all in English.  So we kinda learn poetry in English. So for me, writing is not so hard actually.  But it's more like talking, and expressing myself in other ways is quite hard. But I find it quite natural.  And I think English is a very good language to talk about love.  It's gotta lotta words to describe just emotions of love.  So I think it's a really beautiful language.  But I think I write still quite simple lyrics, you know.