Lykke Li - This summer's biggest hit?

exactly what I was going to say, cb.

Surely her name is pronounced something like Luca, but with the u having a sort of u-umlaut sound.

I'm off to see her live this evening, by the way.

so, not "Likely"

But Lickly.

lookly.

The intro is nice and nearly every track here could potentially be a fantastic pop song but for god's sake, put your back into it woman.

swedish (and norwegian?) 'y' is like the german 'ü'.

At least almost. You can hardly hear the difference, although it is there.

The name Lykke Li is pronounced the same way as the danish word Lykkelig, which means Happy. (from some fashion blog)

This Swedish lo-fi popstrel (her name is pronounced ‘lick-a-lee’) (from Time Out)

Actually I just listened to it again and although the tunes are there, they're handled so badly and her voice is so flimsy that they're wasted. I wish she'd actually put some force in there from time to time or make and effort to sound committed to anything other than this vague mimsiness. Is it possible to sound diffidently mimsy? Because she does.

It's not that I've got a tin ear for this sort of stuff, two of my favourite albums from the last couple of years were by Marit Larsen and Feist. But I spent most of this record wondering if it was hamstrung by its own delicate aesthetic or just cheap, flimsy and badly performed and the four songs at the end confirmed the latter. Breaking It Up in particular should have had something at least vaguely resembling a kick to it.

Yeah, she def. can't sing as well as Lily All-waydaminnit! If SHE was that years biggest hit with that voice, why couldn't Luckily be?

'

Because we're already drowning in bland female vocalists and pretty much any of yer interchangeable Adeles or Duffys could have done a better job with this material?

It's not just the vocals, the production and arrangements are limp as well.

Twee is back (Juno sountrack and so on), maybe it's the Scandinavian version, twë?

I rather like the Duffy that I've heard ("Mercy" seems to be the uptempo single that sticks out like a sore thumb).

Actually I just listened to it again and although the tunes are there, they're handled so badly and her voice is so flimsy that they're wasted. I wish she'd actually put some force in there from time to time or make and effort to sound committed to anything other than this vague mimsiness. Is it possible to sound diffidently mimsy? Because she does.

Annie fans ought to be all over it, then

or indi3 fans full stop

"Little Bit" would sound terrible with Duffy or Adele singing it.

It sounds terrible anyway!

'weak voice' is surely the point ala Shapiro

I dunno, it's weaker than that even, I think with Shapiro or Annie or anything like that it doesn't matter as much because they're supposed to glide over the backing, which is a lot fuller in any case. A lot of the music here is sparser, or more organic at least, and you'd expect the voice to fill that space and it just doesn't.

light voice over light music obviously works in some situations. i'm not feeling any particular imbalance in li's case yet (based on myspace songs only). not sure how much i'll actually listen to this tho.

I went to see her last night. Goodness knows why her management chose that venue: 9 out of 10 of those attending hadn't come for the gig - she was the entertainment at a club night - so there was a serious noise and general-lack-of-decorum problem.

That said, I enjoyed her performance. She has a nice line in moving about on stage and hamming up the songs. Whether that will make her the 'summer's biggest hit' (cf thread title) is another matter.

i like "little bit" if that's what you're talking about, but that's been out for a WHILE.

Saw her at By:Larm (Norwegian Equivalent of MIDEM) and she was absolutely brilliant. A very charismatic live act, and a great and unique voice. It was completely crowded, so obviously she was one of the "next big things" at the meeting.

Even though she was brilliant, Superfamily were even better though.

Saw her at By:Larm (Norwegian Equivalent of MIDEM) and she was absolutely brilliant. A very charismatic live act, and a great and unique voice. It was completely crowded, so obviously she was one of the "next big things" at the meeting.

I was there too (the Thursday show), and yeah, I was floored. It was weird, though, I was jet-lagged and fell asleep and woke up a half hour before the first band went on, and I thought I wouldn't get in at all, but when I got to the club right before 9, there were only about five people there. So I got an ace spot in front...but yeah, did it ever get crowded fast. Anyway, Lykke Li, was far more energetic and charismatic than I expected. I had high hopes going in, but nothing like what we ended up seeing firsthand. She did an instore at the Platekompaniet record store the next afternoon, and did a much more low-key, but equally likeable performance.

Even though she was brilliant, Superfamily were even better though.

Egads. They're like the Killers as interpreted by Metal Skool. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

I wanted to catch Dylan Mondegreen at first (great band, lousy live performance), so I didn't get to Blå until around half an hour before. And by then it was very crowded. I did get in, but hardly got out afterwards. :)

awful

and srsly just one drop in the bucket of poorly conceived swede-twee

i guess once it crosses the ocean it becomes "sophisticated"

i like this album, but most of the songs sound like they could just take off into something really spectacular, but just dont. like maybe a remix cd would be amazing. anyways, just heard a nice remix.
http://www.thefader.com/articles/2008/5/6/freeload-lykke-li-everybody-but-me-diskjokke-remix

this album is like the female vocals from young folks stretched out over 45 mins, but it's nice

and not just cuz it's another swedish chick but the vocals have that same sleepy-eyed but kinda seductive thing to it

none of her other songs have grabbed me at all but i'm liking the one with Kleerup. More like that pls.

this is really good. why didn't anyone tell me how good this is?

this album is like the female vocals from young folks stretched out over 45 mins, but it's nice

That's cuz Bjorn from the group that did "Young Folks" produced this.

this album is like the female vocals from young folks stretched out over 45 mins, but it's nice

this sentence makes no sense

lykke li is fucking disgusting

her music tries way too hard but she seems like a really rad girl

i will never ever comprehend the appeal of twee. god, white people

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/kitbrash/lykkeli.jpghttp://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/kitbrash/mymble.jpg

this album is like the female vocals from young folks stretched out over 45 mins:

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0002CH9DW.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

lex otm here, it's hard to see why there would be any global craving for this

I haven't heard the album, but this is brilliant:

On tour she is closing with A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It," with the audience doing the sampled Lou Reed humming. I thought it was goofy but fun, although I'm sure some folks here would find her rapping as annoying as they do her singing. "Little Bit" is so catchy, although her vocals worked better on cd than live. Her voice now sounds less little-girlish live, although it's still far from impressive.

The name Lykke Li is pronounced the same way as the danish word Lykkelig, which means Happy.

It is pronounced the same way as the Norwegian word Lykkelig. The Danish one would be pronounced Lyyge'li, and that is a bit different. :)

I dig that vocal/string mix. I think that Kleerup song is better than her album. Subject to change when I actually pay attention to the album, of course.

She was mostly fun live but her voice was weak. I read some blog posters and others calling her gig at Black Cat in DC the best gig they saw in DC this year. That seems a little over-the-top to me.

She is unlike anyone else. Which is something that, for some, may be exciting at once. But once you get used to it, it may not be as fascinating as it was.

Still a pretty much OK album and I did find her live appearance rather fascinating. But there is better music from 2008, surely.

She is like 1/10th as good as Marit Larsen when Marit is at her laziest.

i like a few of these songs a lot (off Youth Novels) and... i find her to be really hot

I just heard something by this person on the radio in a cafe. the bassline of the song seemed completely stolen off of Phil Spector's "He Hit Me (and it Felt Like a Kiss)." I thought it was a sample at first!

It's been out since August but I just saw her performance at KCRW: http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/mb/mb090804lykke_li

She's really good. One of the best sounding performances I've seen on the show.

one of her songs is currently playing on a Pandora station for me and I was thinking "oh this is pleasant, kind of forgettable" and then she said "I keep my legs apart for you" and I was like "wait waht"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TTPGAy5H_E

i'm feeling this. reminds me of some 80s tropical cosmic groups that i dig. Belle Stars, Via Afrika, etc

You're probably right, but it did get my hopes up.

The album is out June 8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLO408PZgek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ5zqTEDeHc

01 hard rain
02 deep end
03 two nights [ft. Aminé]
04 last piece
05 jaguars in the air
06 sex money feelings die
07 so sad so sexy
08 better alone
09 bad woman
10 utopia

Not sure about these new songs. They're ok, they just don't have the character of her first two albums. Hopefully they'll grow on me.

Major 3LW vibes on "Deep End"

06 sex money feelings die

I really like these! It's nice to hear some grit behind her soft voice, even if it is borrowed sadcore-trap vibes from Lana Del Rey.

"sounds like Aaliyah and Prince" is gonna be my new ironic refereence in talking about people who don't understand anything remotely r&b influenced in the present.

99% of the time, a trap beat makes me tune right out. No different here.

"deep end" is pretty cool but considering it was produced by jeff bhasker, malay & t-minus it also feels a bit like less than the sum of its parts to me. nb ive never had a use for her music but the way ppl were talking about this one got me to check it out

The swimming pools / indigo / deep blue hook in Deep End is real nice.

Really disappointed with the new album. Totally passed me by the couple of times I listened to it.

What’s it like?

im liking it

Same!

Albums super short. Template seems to be the prior collab with ASAP and the Lynch ballad

Why in God’s name did she use vocoder on this

man this album is a grower, it's great

i've only heard "two nights" so far, like it

Record is very dense production wise. Full of miniature details and very self contained. I absolutely love the opening song

The general reaction for this album seems above average, critically and just user opinions I’ve read. Which is fair as the album is so short and ends on “utopia” which is a stunner of a song, at 34 mins this is succinct.

This record feels transitory to me in that her last one was a fairly bummer ride compared to previous work, but here she seems to be reconciling? Not as much a shift as sundfors last two to draw a comparison.

in love with this record

the concise nature makes every song shine, it's gorgeous

wow someone really loved "High By The Beach" a lot eh

I had put off listening to this because the last one was such a washout but this is much better, maybe lacking a great single but possibly her best full album?

Great record

I'm still not enjoying this as much as I want to. It certainly is a step up from the last album, but it's nowhere near the quality of her first two albums for me. Wounded Rhymes is my favourite.

I never learn is a masterpiece u philistines

this one has some good bits but imho they’re the most familiar bits (bad woman, last piece)

I'm starting to come around to this album. I keep getting the chorus to Jaguars In The Air stuck in my head.

the 'u got it bad' cover is decent

https://open.spotify.com/track/4Dg5moVCTqxAb7Wr8Dq2T5?si=Wr6xOHL6RWSldgf4TvY6Tg

No comment as yet it seems on her most recent album EYEYE - it's extremely doleful, maybe even more so than I Never Learn. I wasn't wild about the last album but this one seems like a big improvement to me.