With the release of her first full album ‘Queen Of The Clouds‘, Swedish pop star, Tove Lo is on the rise and I had the fortunate opportunity to see her latest New York appearance. Her infectiously catchy tunes and lyrics telling of relatable drug and love stories drew in a packed house of 20-somethings for her sold out show at Webster Hall.
Once the lights came down and the enthusiastic cheering began, a haunting black and white video projection of just a mouth began speaking to the crowd. Monologuing about a time she was high with a stranger, Tove Lo painted the story of how they danced all night without touching until he finally held her face with both hands and told her “you are fucking perfect” and kissed her. The raconteur finally emerged on stage, backed by the high powered beats of “My Gun,” the first song off her debut.
Connecting lyrics off of tracks from her EP, she quipped “I’m usually high all the time, but tonight I’m not on drugs, I’m just high on love” to segue into “Not on Drugs,” which was backed by the only other set of visuals of the night – a kaleidoscope effect on some photos of her. Accompanied otherwise by 3 dudes on synth pads, computers, and the occasional harmony – Tove was the main entertainer, maintaining high energy in the audience, merely mirroring off her energy.
She finished out her set with a piece of life advice: “You wanna die thinking ‘I got my heart ripped to pieces while I was having the time of my life.‘” The beat picked up dramatically, as she quickly spat out the wordy “TIMEBOMB.” Her encore surprisingly included the Lucas Nord song she is featured on, “Run on Love,” but unsurprisingly she ended the night on a high with “Habits” (pun intended.)
