Queen of the Clouds (Tove Lo)

EN “Queen of the Clouds” is the debut studio album by Swedish singer Tove Lo, released on September 24, 2014 by Island Records. The album received mostly positive reviews from music critics, praising its production and lyrical content. Moreover, on September 25, 2015, a year after the release of the project, a Blueprint edition of the album was released, including some extra tracks. Lyrically, the album's themes focus on the phases of a relationship, including passion, love, and breakups.

The album was promoted through several singles, the most successful being the first single, “Habits (Stay High)”. However, it was the remix by the duo Hippie Sabotage that catapulted Tove Lo internationally. While the decadent devotion of the track accelerated for one night "where the fun has no end" aligns with the abundant amount of songs dedicated to living the moment, it is the original version that best suits its lyrical theme. The song revolves around Tove Lo's addiction to self-medication and the tragic end of a romantic relationship. As mentioned "Can't go home alone again/Need someone to numb the pain”. The second and third singles, “Talking Body” and “Timebomb”, respectively, are more related to the sexual part, being both tracks present in the part "The Sex" from the alignment of the tracks. “Talking Body” is a sensual song, and quickly becomes a highlight of the album thanks to its soft synths and irresistible chorus. Tove Lo did not restrain herself, projecting her lust while saying “Now if we're talking body, you've got a perfect one so put it on me”. The magic of this initial attraction continues until “Timebomb”, a strange track that balances a piano with a more danceable style, adding some psychedelic synths. The real pearl of the song is its chorus and its explosive hook, living up to the title, complete with powerful cymbals and a bass. Tove Lo describes these first feelings of love so accurately, that it makes us want to relive her own personal experiences. Finally, the last single was “Moments”, present in the part “The Love” from the album, where she recalls her comfortable and happy childhood, as if it made her work twice as hard to become an interesting artist, although it works best in ironic self-deprecation: “I might get a little drunk... but on good days I am charming as f-ck”.

“Queen of the Clouds” helps us to rethink about the fine line that separates love, passion, pain and sex, each of these feelings being always “a millimeter” away from each other, and some of them can cohabit with each other, so it was smart on the part of the singer to separate certain tracks by themes. Such a task must not have been easy because, as I said, such feelings can be misunderstood or even exist simultaneously, but in this way it is possible to understand the point of view of the artist and her experience before such themes and/or sensations.

With that being said, in “Queen of the Clouds" Tove Lo is an honest, sometimes unbalanced narrator, dragging us through the euphoria and misery of love. She demonstrates that well-defined endings, supported by despair or total ecstasy, do not reflect reality. It is not an understatement to say that Tove Lo is a force to be reckoned with, having created a solid project in which she can ascend and through which she can shine immensely, far beyond her tremendous capacity as a composer. With courage, attitude and heartbreaking emotion, she may have made one of the strongest debuts of 2014 on her own.

⭐⭐⭐⭐