When a hit single is playing daily on the radio, is it better to be the voice singing the track or the person who wrote it?

Singer-songwriters seem to be tired of choosing between the two with a few artists currently branching away from just writing to taking the center stage with successful results (Keri Hilson, Sia, Charli XCX). With writing credits for huge artists like Icona Pop, Cher Lloyd and Lea Michelle, new-comer Tove Lo knows how to create a hit and her debut album “Queen of the Clouds” shows that Lo may have been saving her best material for herself.

If the name Tove Lo isn’t ringing any bells yet, just check out some vines  or listen to the radio and you’ve most likely already heard her hit single Habits (Stay High). When I listened to Lo’s album for the first time I almost forgot about the single because her material is just as strong, if not stronger than Habits. The album kicks off with a playful cut about Lo liking her boys on the younger side (“Hey girl,why you judging me /When your guys turning 53 / I like em young”). Its always refreshing when an artist can showcase their personality in their music and you really gain a sense of Tove Lo’s feelings about love and youth.

Lo turns it up a little bit on the next track “Talking Body” with a chorus that’s begging to be remembered so you can sing it while your grinding in the club.

Now if we’re talking body
You got a perfect one so put it on me
Swear it won’t take you long
If you love me right, we fuck for life
On and on and on

I think working with pop legends Max Martin and Shellback has helped Tove Lo master the art of creating a catchy record but under the playful wordplay there are emotions Lo wants you to feel when your listening to the music. Pop gets a bad rep for “Quantity over Quality” when it comes to certain artists just looking for chart topping hit but other artists want to create music that will still resonate with us month or even years after its release. Albums like “Queen of the Clouds” help change the landscape of how popular artists decide where they want to go next.

“Timebomb”has Lo sing-talk-venting and telling a story over a piano beat that seems to build with her frustrations. Production and lyric choices like that are genius to me and make me want to replay it because the artist is trying a new way to re-tell the same old story.

Each track is full of clever lyrics, crashing beats and lush productions that help the listener visualize the world Tove Lo has created as the Queen of the clouds. Tracks like “The Way That I Am”, “Thousand Miles”, “Crave” slows the tempo down a little bit but the record never feels dull or full of filler tracks to get to the potential singles. Honestly I can see most of these tracks being singles especially some of the tracks that you may have already heard on the Truth Serum EP (Not On Drugs…#Bruh)

“Queen of the Clouds” is an amazing debut from beginning to end and Tove Lo definitely gained a fan by the fourth track. I don’t know what it is about Swedish artists but they know how to create dope pop music (Robyn, Lykke Li, Alesso, Say Lou Lou, Miiike Snow… the list could go on). I hope America embraces Tove Lo and really apperciate this body of work Lo sent us from the clouds.

Score 9.6/10

Standout Tracks: Talking Body, Timebomb, Moments, Not On Drugs, Thousand Miles, Habits, Not Made For This World

Pre-order Tove Lo’s “Queen of the Clouds” NOW or be on the look out for it on September 30, 2014