Free Download: Lykke Li "Little Bit" (Loving Hand Remix)
WHO? Lykke Li is a 22-year-old Stockholm singer-songwriter who’s been generating a lot of blog love for her breathy lo-fi electro songs like “Little Bit” and “I’m Good, I’m Gone.”
WHAT’S WITH THE NAME? She got her stage name as a result of a passport mix-up. Her full name is Lykke Li Timotej Zahrisson. If that last name looks familiar it must be because you are an insane fan of Swedish prog rock and familiar with her father Johan Zachrisson, who recorded under the name Zilverzurfarm with the band Dag Vag. Her mother, meanwhile, is a photographer who took the family around the world. They spent five years living in a hippie commune in Portugal when Lykke Li was a child. Oh, and it’s pronounced “Lick-ee Lee.”
PLAYERS: Lykke Li, vocal; Bjorn Yttling, producer
WHAT TO BUY: Youth Novels, the singer’s debut album, masterfully mixes her ethereal voice with raw budget beats and mournful lyrics. To make it, she aggressively chased after producer Bjorn Yttling, one-third of the group Peter Bjorn and John that gave us the hit “Young Folks.”
Lykke Li has said, “I want to be like Patti Smith, Madonna, and Edith Piaf all combined into one human.” There’s an endearingly broken quality to the music, kind of like Bjork minus a million dollars. Her fondness for hip-hop has also given her a penchant for dropping lyrical bombs like, “And for you I keep my legs apart / and forget about my tainted heart ... / I will do it, push the button, pull the trigger, climb a mountain, jump off a cliff ’cause you’re my baby / I love you love you a little bit.” You’ll either instantly fall in love or run away screaming.
MAIN SOURCE OF INSPIRATION: “Revenge,” she says. Lykke Li is determined to flaunt her newfound fame to all the people that doubted her. “I’ve been told a lot of times I’m not a good singer and I suck, and that I’m crazy.” When she was 19, Li moved to New York and attempted to make it through playing open mic nights around the city. The plan didn’t go so well. Her visa expired before she was discovered so she moved back to Stockholm and made things happen for herself. “I just nagged,” she says.
FILE NEXT TO: Bjork, Feist, Robyn
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH: Lil’ Kim, Laika, the Like
CRITICAL ENDORSEMENT: “By paying attention to detail, Yttling and Li’s … intimate, playful miniatures capture the daring and novelty of modern pop, as well as its hooks.” ―Pitchfork
WHERE TO SEE HER:
Aug 25 - Hotel Cafe - Los Angeles, California
Aug 28 - Le Poisson Rouge - New York, New York
Aug 28 - Richards on Richards - Vancouver, British Columbia
Oct 19 - Black Cat - Washington, Washington DC
Oct 20 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - New York
Oct 23 - Paradise - Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 24 - Mod Club - Toronto, Ontario
Oct 25 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, Illinois
Oct 28 - Richards on Richards - Vancouver, British Columbia
Oct 29 - Neumo’s - Seattle, Washington
Oct 30 - Doug Fir - Portland, Oregon
Nov 1 - Independent - San Francisco, California
Nov 3 - El Rey - Los Angeles, California
WHERE TO FIND HER: http://www.myspace.com/lykkeli
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