Me, Myself, and I

Lykke Li can’t stay still. Her life and her career are relentlessly pulled forward by an impatient desire to see what’s just around the corner, her music full of ideas about moving on and breaking free. Just 18 months ago she was complaining to her mentor, Bjorn ‘of Peter and John fame’ Yttling, that everything had gone wrong because she was 21 and still hadn’t released an album. Now 22, she’s finding that things are on track. With the release of that album ‘Youth Novels’, already out in Sweden through her own label LL Recordings, she’s been surprised and maybe a little embarrassed to find that the world is falling at her feet. She’s just the kind of person people can’t help falling in love with.

“I’m always looking for something raw and pure,” says Lykke Li. “I want to create a direct, intense, intimate feeling; a vision which is uncomplicated but with a depth.” This idea of uncomplicated depth – or, to put it another way, an album completely accessible but also robust enough for repeated listens – is expressed through the layered, multi-instrumental flavour of her music. You’ll hear harpsichords, flutes, and theremins throughout the album but you’ll also hear Lykke Li’s magnificently brittle, candy coated vocals. ‘Youth Novels’ is like a well-thumbed paperback which falls open, again and again, on the same pages: love, loneliness, frustration and obsession. The stories are so moving because the stories are true: they’re stories about Lykke Li and her extraordinary life, told with unusual honesty. Recorded with Bjorn over the last 10 months, ‘Youth Novels’ weaves its way through 14 perfectly-realised chapters. It includes recent single ‘Little Bit’ (released to much acclaim on Moshi Moshi earlier this year), continues with the punchy throb of ‘I’m Good I’m Gone’ and brilliant songs like reluctant breakup anthem ‘Breaking It Up’. Throughout, there’s a sense of momentum and a pursuit of some unobtainable goal. “I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied and calm,” Lykke Li admits. “Even now I wonder how I’m going to live a whole lifetime, feeling how I do now…”

Lykke Li "I'm Good, I'm Gone"

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