Good Weather For Airstrikes

Tragic, but the beat must go on.

Lykke Li will be huge. Like, it’s not even a question. Basically Robyn only younger, hotter and better(?), Li takes the best elements of Annie, Peter Bjorn & John and the new breed of British female singer-songwriters to create her own unique lo-fi pop sound. Our first taste comes via “Little Bit”, currently only available on 10″ vinyl in Scandinavia and digitally through Swedish iTunes. But despite her lack of available material, Li’s already causing a stir internationally among A&R types the world over. One listen to “Little Bit” (or one run through the video below), and you’ll see why; it’s one of the most endearing pop debuts to surface in as long as I can remember. Copping that lo-fi-but-not-too-lo-fi pop sound popularized by Peter Bjorn & John last year thanks to production from PB&J’s Bjorn Yttling, “Little Bit” is a lesson in minimalist pop brilliance. Li bears her heart and soul on the track: “And for you I keep my legs apart/And forget about my tainted heart… I would do it/Push a button/Pull a trigger/Climb a mountain/Jump off a cliff/Cause you know baby I love you, love you a little bit”. And between her earnest lyrics and hushed delivery, she’s more like one of those British singer-songwriter types than a true pop star, but you better believe she’ll pull some serious pop star money from whatever major label ends up winning her hand.

Charming B-sides “Everybody But Me” and “Time Flies” only further cement her status as the Next! Big! Thing! to come out of Sweden, and there’s no denying this girl will be taking over European airwaves sooner rather than later. With her debut album in the final stages of the mixing process and primed for a 2008 release, there’s no telling how what kind of damage she can do on the European charts next year, but something tells me it’ll be pretty significant.

MP3s:
“Little Bit” - Lykke Li ((highly recommended)) [Alternate Link]
“Everybody But Me” (Demo) - Lykke Li [Alternate Link]

I first came across Li by way of Mattias Montero’s simply incredible video for “Little Bit”, which is easily one of the year’s best and an absolute gem from start to finish (what is it about those Scandinavian directors?). Watch this and do your best not to fall in love with this girl. No seriously, just try.

Oh and that’s Swedish superproducer Kleerup (see: Robyn’s “With Every Heartbeat”) rockin’ out at the piano in the clip, even though you totally thought it was Sebastien Tellier.

Video: “Little Bit”
Artist: Lykke Li
Director: Mattias Montero
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 43 MB] [direct link]

This entry was posted on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 6:18 pm and is filed under Artist Profile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.