Lykke Li to Play the Hollywood Palladium September 23

Fred Hernandez

Lykke Li, the Swedish indie-pop songwriter, often finds inspiration through pain. Her delicate and angelic soprano voice elicits feelings of nostalgia, introspection, and also… tends to bum you out. Lykke Li’s voice is mesmerizing, her music is stripped down, and her lyrics lack pretentiousness and even have a slight tinge of naivete. Themes of heartbreak, desperation, and loneliness seep out of her lyrics. Melancholia and a yearning for a lost youth are wrapped up in an alternative Swedish pop formula that the indie blogs eat up like a famished hippo. That said, the feelings of tenderness and vulnerability are balanced with Li’s infectious melodies, heavily influenced by 60’s girl groups who created their songs by penning the melody first.

Her debut album, Youth Novels, was released in 2008 and made its way to many end-of-year top albums lists. It was co-produced by Björn Yttling, one half of Peter Bjorn and John, who also co-produced her subsequent albums, Wounded Rhymes and I Never Learn.Youth Novels was instrumentally sparse to highlight Li’s intimate vocals, while the title represented the peculiar and modern sound Li employed. Wounded Rhymes, Li’s sophomore album, felt like a quiet musical mystery, with a darker turn than her debut. For most 20-year-olds, life often revolved around love, something which Li tapped into when penning her lyrics. Her most recent album, I Never Learn, was written after the worst break-up of her life, and continues to play off the themes of sadness due to lost love. With song titles like “Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone”, “Heart of Steel”, and “Never Gonna Love Again”, Lykke Li is not afraid to show the hyper-romanticized view of life, which has become a staple in her musi. In interviews she states that she appreciates adolescence since it’s the time when everything seems pure and romantic love seems to be all one needs.

In 2012, Li followed in the footsteps of rising star-cum-model, Lana del Rey, by signing with the VIVA Model Management agency. In 2014 she made her feature film debut by starring Tarik Saleh’s Swedish film, Tommy, a film about the wife of a man who perpetrated one of the biggest robberies in Swedish history. Saleh had previously directed a few of her music videos. The artist has played Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Glastonbury, had a song featured on the second Twilight film, and collaborated with pop culture titan, Kanye West. It is safe to say that her success has likely kept her mind off the heartbreak and challenges she’s had to face.

Lykke Li will play at the Hollywood Palladium on Tuesday, September 23 to promote her newest album, I Never Learn. Tickets are on sale now.