Everything is coming up Lykke Li. The 22-year-old Swede (born
Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson) is the overnight, blog-approved, singing
sensation du jour. But while that sort of hollow praise is usually
fodder for another round of hype 2.0, Li’s impact on the pop music
fault line will continue to rumble and shake far past her 15 minutes,
next year’s next big thing, and beyond.
Reason being, the drop-dead ridiculous single “Little Bit,”
which—along with its jittery Mattias Montero-directed
video—has propelled Li into the pop stratosphere, a long way from
singing at open mics in Stockholm and putting out her debut recording
on her own, conveniently named, LL Recordings label.
“I’ve been waiting my whole lifetime to make an album,” says Li,
about to kick off a tour of the States alongside fellow Swede El Perro
del Mar. “You only get one shot to make your first album, it’s a hard
process.” The album in question won’t even hit our shores until later
this year—although it’s been available in Europe as of February;
meanwhile, Li is touring on the gorgeous four-song Little Bit EP. The Björn Yttling (of Peter Björn and John fame)-recorded
EP is anchored by its lead single, a song so captivating that it’s hard
to focus on much else.
“Little Bit” flexes a staggering range, from the saccharine sweet,
“A little bit in la-la-la-la-love with me,” to the seductive and
damaged hook, “And for you I keep my legs apart/and forget about my
tainted heart.” Love songs aren’t meant to be this sexy. Romantic,
sure, but Li purrs with a coy sensuality not traditionally associated
with her Nordic homeland. Of course the song is a total lie, since Li’s
soft vocal coos fail to mask her all-consuming devotion—this is
not a casual case of being a “little bit in love,” despite what she
says—and her very personal songwriting. “I had been collecting
experiences all my life,” she says. “And making this album was quite an
intense experience for me.”
Li’s voice, childlike and inviting, lightly bounces around an
atmospheric collection of restrained instrumentation—plus the
occasional soft flurry of minimalist beats—and is the centerpiece
of her ever-changing work. Not content with her limited body of
material to date, Li explains how her debut came to be. “I gave the
title Youth Novels to this record because it’s my youth, it’s
the beginning of something. Everything is not perfect, but it’s a
picture of my life at that time. I did my best at the time and now I’m
better.”
Li’s rapid rise and newfound home in the pop culture spotlight is
enough to make a hippie father proud. Li’s pops is a member of the
popular Swedish reggae (yes, there is really is such thing) act Dag
Vag, and while he supports his daughter’s breakthrough success, the
feeling wasn’t always mutual. “When I was really small they took me to
shows, but when I had the choice, I didn’t want to go. My mom would be
backstage smoking weed and being embarrassing.”