‘Queen of the Clouds’, Tove Lo’s debut album, was defined by its extremes. Its emotions were overwhelming, while its melodies were wide in scope and always accompanied by a dramatic sweep. Its follow up, the brilliantly titled ‘Lady Wood’, seeks to operate on a more even footing. Where its predecessor was at its best when it exploded into life, this is more of a slow burn.
Split into two halves - Fairy Dust and Fire Fade, which move from a giddy rush to a comedown - its instrumentals are more low-key, its hooks initially reticent to take hold. Of its opening salvo, only True Disaster moves with similar intent to the best moments on ‘Queen of the Clouds’, but its status as an outlier here isn’t a reflection of the quality that surrounds it.
Lo has refitted her brass-tacks honesty to fit in a more dancefloor-ready space, with the title track and Cool Girl, its lead single, particularly effective in conjuring Fairy Dust’s intoxicating highs. “I know what people say about you, they say the same about me,” she sings on the former. “I don’t care if it’s all true. I want you hanging with me.”
By splitting the record, Lo gives the listener an emotional arc to follow. Duly, the compositional differences in its second segment are subtle but important.
Driven by sub bass and a fidgety vocal performance, Don’t Talk About It has a morose punch that counterbalances the moments of abandon that have pocked preceding songs. It is less concerned with filling in the gaps, leaving yawning dead air between verse and chorus, while Imaginary Friend’s sparse percussion and sense of space serve to foreground one of the record’s finest melodies.
Lo holds the whole thing together, delivering unflinching, personal missives in an attempt to create an inclusive atmosphere. ‘Lady Wood’ is a different, perhaps slightly more difficult, proposition than the record that went before it, but it succeeds all the same. We’re lucky to have a lot of interesting voices in pop at the moment and Tove Lo is right up there with the best.
Tove Lo Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed March 15 2017 - MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
Fri March 17 2017 - LONDON O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
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