FEATURE:
Modern Heroines
Part Thirty-Four: Zara Larsson
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FOR this part of Modern Heroines…
I am taking some time to spotlight a major Pop artist who I feel will continue to rise. Zara Larsson achieved national fame in Sweden for winning the 2008 season of the talent show, Talang (the Swedish version of the Got Talent format). In 2012, Larsson signed with the record label TEN Music Group and subsequently released her debut compilation recording, the extended play, Introducing, in January 2013. I am going to talk about her upcoming album, Poster Girl, and bring in a couple of fairly recent interviews. Out on 5th March, Poster Girl is going to be one of the biggest Pop albums of this year. NME provide more details:
“The record, which follows the Swedish pop star’s 2017 album ‘So Good’, is set to land on March 5 via Black Butter.
The new album follows Larsson’s recent single ‘Talk About Love’, a collaboration with Young Thug.
“‘Talk About Love’ is about that phase before two people work out what they are to one another,” Larsson explained of the new track.
“That specific window is so beautiful and fragile, as soon as you start asking ‘are we doing this?’ or ‘how do *you* feel?’, for some people that ruins the magic. ‘Talk About Love’ is savouring that moment before you have to decide”.
If you are not a big fan of mainstream Pop, I would say to give Zara Larsson a chance. She is far stronger than many of her peers; her music is not reserved for a narrow market – one does not feel like she is marketing for streaming hits and popularity.
So Good was an album that won praise with many critics. Released in 2017, it was the sophomore album from Larsson. This is what AllMusic wrote when they assessed the album:
“Living up to its title, So Good -- the sophomore set from Swedish singer Zara Larsson -- arrived after a two-year promotional rollout that followed the release of her debut, 2014's 1. Her slow climb toward the upper pop strata occupied by Rihanna, Sia, and Tove Lo -- the artists whose vocals Larsson most closely echoes -- began in 2015 with the quadruple-platinum number one single "Lush Life," an effective dose of tropical pop that rides the surf with a playful whistle and undeniable bounce. Quickly following with the skittering staccato of MNEK duet "Never Forget You," Larsson scored another hit. Two subsequent album highlights -- the bass-blasted "Ain't My Fault" and "I Would Like" -- provided additional examples of her strong voice and confident attitude. By the time fifth single -- the Ty Dolla $ign-featuring, Charlie Puth-penned title track -- arrived in 2017, a third of So Good had been unveiled. Despite the significant time gap, So Good remains a tight vision full of romantic drama, youthful abandon, and a strong sense of female empowerment. "TG4M" ("too good for me") basks in the sun with a piña colada in hand, part of a Girl's Only weekend with Daya and Hailee Steinfeld, while the WizKid-featuring, Stargate-produced "Sundown" invites Sia to the moonlight island party.
When the party ends, the uplifting "What They Say" provides a comforting shoulder to lean on. Amongst the feel-good party jams, heartfelt surprises provide more emotional sustenance. "Make That Money Girl" is a slow-builder that turns the bad gal toughness of Rihanna into a girl power anthem with a message that demands self-reliance and vision, going so far as reminding listeners that "you can be the next female president." When Larsson delves even deeper, the results are refreshing. Album closer "I Can't Fall in Love Without You" is a beautiful sendoff. Set to Jesper Nordenström's piano accompaniment, the track is a sweeping and heartfelt expression, the most vulnerable and pure on So Good. Fun and engaging, Larsson made one of the better pop albums of 2017. Like contemporaries Daya, Steinfeld, Bebe Rexha, and Dua Lipa, Larsson delivers polished R&B-influenced pop gems that shine bright like diamonds while maintaining a too-cool-for-school factor that helps to distinguish her from the bubblegum”.
I want to bring in a few interviews, as it provides some detail and background on Zara Larsson. I think she is one of the most interesting and original artists in the mainstream right now. From what we have heard from Poster Girl, the album is shaping up to be pretty strong and broad.
I want to quote from TIME and an interview they conducted in 2019. They highlight the fact that Larsson is more than a Pop star. She is a role model:
“But as she’s grown up at the center of attention, Larsson, 21, has made one thing clear: she’s about much more than just dance music. She’s an outspoken feminist who promotes sexual health without compromising her fun-loving image. She started out by speaking candidly in blog posts and on social media when she was younger. Last fall, she signed on as a face of Durex for an AIDS prevention campaign.
“I would definitely like to think of myself as a role model,” Larsson says. “Again, I’m a person; I’m not perfect, but I don’t think anyone expects me to be,” she adds, recognizing that existing in such a public space means making mistakes. “Ruin My Life” received some criticism upon its release from fans who didn’t think the message tallied with Larsson’s progressive image. But Larsson sees it differently. “I don’t want to encourage people to stay in a relationship… that isn’t good for you, but I think we’ve all been there at least once,” she reflects. It wasn’t her first experience with negativity on social media, either, as she has been subject to online abuse in response to expressions of her feminism”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Erik Henriksson
I would advise everyone to check out Poster Girl when it arrives. As we learn from HELLO, there is quite a variation and sonic/emotional spread on the album:
"I feel that this album has a lot of everything in there. Some beautiful ballads, some sassy songs: the vibe is very fun and dance-friendly. It’s a bit more grown-up, naturally, as my last album was when I was a teenager and now, I’m a young woman. So, it’s me writing about life, and life is high and low, a lot of emotions are there. I think my focus, in general, is probably love. I like to write about that, but in a sexy way."
Zara first discovered music at the age of five, when her mum gave her one of Carola Häggkvist’s albums, she is a huge musician in Sweden. "She is a-ma-zing, my first biggest idol. She sings in Swedish, too, so I could understand what she was saying, rather than Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Beyoncé – and all of the others I also listened to."
Zara’s first break came when, aged ten, she won Talang (2008), the Swedish version of Britain’s Got Talent. "I was so nervous, but also excited, as it was my first time being on a big stage. It went by very quickly, unfortunately, because it’s not like The X Factor, where you are on there every week. It was the audition, the semi-final and the final."
Her life pretty much went back to normal after the competition, until she released Uncover in 2013. "It became really successful. I think some people thought, 'Wait, that’s the girl from the talent show?'. So I think it did help me, because it’s a fun story and connects me to something, but it was also the first time I felt that I had really done something, and it wasn’t just a show”.
I am going to wrap things up soon. First, I want to source from an in-depth interview NME published recently. It is likely that Zara Larsson would have been introduced to new listeners. I have been listening to her music a lot more. I think that she has a long and very successful career ahead of her. Poster Girl is shaping up to be an intriguing album:
“If you didn’t already think that Larsson is head over heels in love – she recently said “it’s just not legal to feel this good” – ‘Poster Girl’, her third album, would seem to make it pretty plain. The record begins with the blissful shimmer of her 2020 single ‘Love Me Land’, on which she sings: “Never thought I would love again / Here I am, lost in Love Me Land.” Other highlights include the soulful bop ‘I Need Love’ – “like an addict needs a drug,” she purrs – and ‘Need Someone’, which features the wonderfully self-assured couplet: “I’m happy I don’t need someone / I’m happy, but I want you.” The penultimate track ‘FFF’ turns out to be shorthand for “falling for a friend”.
Still, Larsson politely deflects my suggestion that ‘Poster Girl’ is a kind of concept album about entering into a joyous new relationship after a break-up. Back in August 2019, amid internet rumours that she’d split from her boyfriend, the model Brian Whittaker, Larsson shared an Instagram meme that read: “When you get your heartbroken but it’s OK because the street’s been waiting for you to be single again.” Later that month, she confirmed to People magazine that she was indeed “single right now”.
It has been a pretty busy and illuminating past five years for the modern Pop icon. That said, there have been peaks and troughs regarding success and chart positions:
It didn’t take long for international success to follow. Appearing on the cover of NME in late 2016, she told us in no uncertain terms: “I want as many people as possible to go to my concert.” In 2015 and 2016 she sent no fewer than six singles into the UK Top 20, including the skittering ‘Never Forget You’, a duet with London singer MNEK; the club-ready Tinie Tempah collaboration ‘Girls Like’; and the utterly irresistible ‘Lush Life’, one of the best pop songs of the decade. Then, in 2017, she partnered with Clean Bandit for the chart-topping dance banger ‘Symphony’. It still ranks among both acts’ career highlights, Larsson’s emotional vocals adding some red-blooded grit to Clean Bandit’s precision-tooled beats.
Since then, Larsson’s chart positions outside of Sweden haven’t been as sky-high – her last four singles didn’t crack the UK top 10 – but her pop star stock remains premium. “And at this point I just want people to hear my new music and I want to stop being so scared of how it’s going to go,” she says. “Because honestly, what could go wrong? That I sell one album. If that happens, I’ll make another one – that’s how I see it now. And that’s how I’ve been seeing it the whole time I was growing up in this industry.
“But because my first [global] album was ‘So Good’ – literally! – I felt pressured, I really did. And then eventually, I was like, ‘Nah, you can’t keep going on like this because the longer you wait to release this album, the less people are gonna care anyways. So just fucking release it because it’s great, it’s fun and it’s my form of escapism.”
Larsson spoke about writing and working alongside women; how there is this sexism and there is a division in perception when it comes to multitalented men and women:
Larsson co-wrote songs for ‘Poster Girl’ with singer-songwriters Julia Michaels (who’s American) and Kamille (British), and says that she never wants to be the only woman in a songwriting session. But to this day she’s never worked with a female producer – something she finds “so sad”. Part of the problem, she says, is the way the music industry legitimises a certain brand of male bravado. “I’ve met guys who are like: ‘I’m a producer, I’m a photographer, I’m a stylist, I’m an investor, I’m a director, I’m a lighting guy’,” she says. “And everyone’s like: ‘Yeah man, yeah you are!’ And it’s like, how can you really be all that? But when a girl says she’s a producer or good at making beats, people won’t even believe her.”
Larsson says she’s in a fortunate position compared to many female artists, because her international label, Epic Records, is headed up by a woman, Chair and CEO Sylvia Rhone. “I fucking love Sylvia and I feel like she understands me,” Larsson says. “But it’s very rare to have a woman, especially a woman of colour, sitting in a boss’s chair. And the difference is, from my perspective, that she’s just less like a baby.”
Her disarming frankness makes me laugh. “No, honestly! I’ve dealt with so many men in this industry – executives – that you just need to baby a lot,” Larsson continues. “But when a man says ‘I don’t want that to happen’ and walks out of the meeting, people don’t call him a baby. They call him ‘passionate’. Eugh”.
I shall tie things up now but, ahead of the release of her third studio album, Poster Girl, I wanted to promulgate the music of Zara Larsson, as she is going to keep gaining traction and produce great music. Whilst there are a lot of generic and rather manufactured Pop artists around right now, Zara Larsson is a fascinating artist…
DOING things her own way.