Tove Lo Flies High and Comes Down Hard on ‘Lady Wood’

Aryeh Harris-Shapiro

Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo made her name on the U.S. scene two years ago with the hit “Habits (Stay High),” from the album “Queen of the Clouds.” The weed and breakup anthem spent almost 40 weeks on the charts thanks to its piercing hook and its evocation of the lonely haze of functional substance abuse.

Comes now her second album, “Lady Wood,” a return to her brand of confessional hedonism with two years’ worth of perspective. At best, that growth lays the groundwork for music that refines her pop craftsmanship while opening up new confessional territory for her to explore. At worst, this new maturity makes her dance-trance songs seem less exciting than the music that came before.

Tove Lo has written her share of pop one-offs for artists such as Ellie Goulding, Nick Jonas, and Adam Lambert, but her own expression requires album-length statements. Her first album was divided into three sections dedicated to sex, love, and pain respectively. “Lady Wood” has two chapters: “Fairy Dust,” dedicated to the high, and “Fire Fade,” devoted to the come-down.

“You know I’m under the influence/So don’t trust every word I say,” she croons on “Influence,” hinting at the nagging doubts behind her smoldering, confident tone. “True Disaster” is the best pure pop song on the album, turning the words “I’m gonna get hurt” into a catchy dance refrain. “Cool Girl” whiplashes between melodrama like “I got fever highs/I got boiling blood” and an icy, robotic hook that will never leave your head. The chapter ends with the duet “Vibes.” Guest singer Joe Janiak complements his host well; the hypnotic weave of their voices capturing the feeling of a good trip about to turn bad. If “Lady Wood” ended here, it would be a near-perfect EP demonstrating Tove Lo’s ascension to the upper echelons of sad electro-pop.

Unfortunately, the album’s second chapter, “Fire Fade,” isn’t quite as successful as its first. It isn’t that the songs are any less intelligent. On the contrary, this half of the album contains some of Tove Lo’s sharpest writing and craftsmanship. “The world is beautiful/So why don’t you feel anything?” she asks on “Don’t Talk About It,” capturing the numbness that comes with anxiety and depression. “Flashes” contains one of the albums best musical moments, an electric vocoder solo that rips through the confusion and loneliness of an endless series of dissolving relationships.

At the same time, the tension between Tove Lo’s hedonism and her pain has always been the most interesting aspect of her music. But the second half of the new album strips Tove’s emotional tug-of-war away for a more straightforward confessional style, one that plays less to her strengths. An artist leaving her comfort zone is never a bad thing, but “Fire Fade” is a less catchy and less interesting stretch of songs than “Fairy Dust.” Melancholy dance music may be more popular than ever, but despite the album’s imperfections Tove Lo remains one of its sharpest, most interesting voices.

“Lady Wood” is available from Apple Music Oct. 28