You recognize Tove Lo and her pop music by its raw grunge-influenced sound on ubiquitous hits like “Habits (Stay High)”, “Talking Body” and “Cool Girl”. You recognize her name featured on other artist’s songs like DJ Alesso’s “Heroes (We Could Be)”. But you may not know that she’s also a multi-talented singer/songerwriter with an impressive resume.
The Swedish born artist developed a passion for stage performing at an early age, forming a band with classmates. She soon turned her focus towards producing her own tracks, learning to play the drums and dabbling in record production and music programming. She was immersed in the music scene and lived with Icona Pop in a suburb near Stockholm. Lo had a knack for writing so she embarked on a songwriting career which brought her to LA. She signed with Max Martin’s music collective and co-write tracks for Zara Larsson, Lea Michele, Cher Lloyd and Elle Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do” which gave Lo her first Grammy nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
It was also during this time that Lo decided to pursue a recording career on the side. She gained a substantial online following which led to a recording deal in 2014. Her debut album’s lead single, “Habits”, peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2016 she released her second album, Lady Wood, which she has described as “darker and dreamier” than her previous work.
Lo has stated that her stage persona is synonymous with her true identity. In her songs and onstage she celebrates the destructive nature of her ‘bad’ habits like hard drinking and doing drugs which has made her a popular fixture on the festival circuit. The Lady Wood Tour kicks off next month in Seattle and will be here in Chicago on February 16th.
Tove Lo @ House of Blues 2/16
8PM – $58 tickets