Tove Lo, KOKO

Londoners have been waiting a long time to see Tove Lo. Her headline date last November was cancelled due to vocal inflammation, while her rescheduled appearance in January had to be shelved due to further unforeseen circumstances. With an appearance at the KOKO now booked for the 30^th of March, hopefully it will be third time lucky.
Born in Stockholm, Tove Lo – real name Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson – stands tall amongst the crowded field of contemporary Scandinavian pop singers. A prodigious writer as a child, she studied at the prestigious Rytmus Muisc School, whose pop alumni include Robyn. A period alternatively playing math-rock and writing songs for the likes of Icona Pop and Girls Aloud followed, allowing Nilsson to refine her craft. Then, in 2012, she unleashed ‘Love Ballad’ on the world. With pounding drums and comically exaggerated lyrics, it introduced a voice poised between sincere and sardonic, with a sense of self-awareness sadly absent from much pop music.
It was 2013’s ‘Habits’, however, that brought Tove Lo to the forefront of Scandi-pop. On first listen, especially when placed against the genre-hopping work of contemporaries like MØ, NoNoNo and Elliphant, you could take ‘Habits’ for a well-made, but unremarkable pop song. By the second spin, its huge hooks will be seared into your skull, likely for weeks. As with ‘Love Ballad’, the frankness of the lyrics – Lo must gorge on food, alcohol, weed and men to forget a beloved ex – grants the track an extraordinary emotional immediacy.
Queen of the Clouds (2014), Tove Lo’s debut album, consolidates her position at the front rank of intelligent pop. Structured into three seconds that follows a relationship from potential one night stand to getting over a break-up, it offers a compendium of production sounds and purloined styles, often within the same song. This material, along with the live experience gained from supporting Katy Perry, all but guarantees a sparkling eve – that is, if she doesn’t cancel.