Despite her badass aura and vocal range demonstrated throughout her previous discography, Tove Lo failed to bring the heat to her latest album release.
Since 2014, she’s released four projects — a project every single year. On Nov. 16, she released her newest album, BLUE LIPS (lady wood phase II) as a follow up to her 2016 Lady Wood.
It seems as if her potential to make great music has been cut short due to the faster pace of this production process, which undermines her ability to create music like she used to. This album follows her classic themes of sex and drugs, with songs like “hey you got drugs?” and “cycles,” but the songs aren’t as catchy as they used to be. Coming out with a new project every year — when most artists wait two years — can cause a project to be rushed, and I’m wondering if that’s what happened here.
Just because the songs don’t compete with her past bops doesn’t mean the album is completely useless. For those looking to hear the typical Tove Lo pop song, listen to “disco tits,” the only single from the album. This song meets the standard for Tove Lo fans, and has an outrageous video to match, which what Tove Lo is all about.
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The way the album was curated will also remind listeners of Tove Lo’s roots. Since her debut album, Queen of the Clouds, the Swedish singer has included short songs that serve as intros and outros. For example, Queen of the Clouds has “THE SEX,” “THE LOVE” and “THE PAIN.” BLUE LIPS has “LIGHT BEAMS” and “PITCH BLACK.”
If Tove Lo took the time to curate the album and follow her standard layout, then maybe she put more effort into this album than I give her credit for.
The singer, now 30, may want to change her music style to something more chill as opposed to dance-pop hits.
A very slow ballad on the album for Tove Lo’s standards is “dont ask dont tell.” The chorus echoes, “don’t ask, then don’t tell/ Already know you’re fucked up/ And it’s cool with me/ My past and don’t ask and don’t tell/ No need to share too much.” These intimate lyrics are something new from Tove Lo, who is so often free and liberated, holding nothing back. Perhaps as she grows older she’s changing as a person, and that change is seen in the music.
Another slower song is “hey you got drugs?” where Tove Lo sings, “Hey, you got drugs?/ Just need a pick-me-up only for tonight.” The song explicitly about drugs is the song I thought would have the biggest dance beat in the background, but I was wrong.
No song on the album has an energy as intense as “Habits (Stay High)” but the songs do have a soft dance beat of some kind. Tove Lo didn’t divert to a completely new path with this album, she just didn’t include high energy beats like she used to in the past.
RANK: 2.5/5
