LYKKE LI with GRIMES at the Phoenix (410 Sherbourne), Sunday (May 22), doors 8 pm. $27.50. PDR, RT, SS, TW. See listing.
Congratulate Lykke Li on near-unanimous critical praise for her new album and be prepared for seconds of uncomfortable silence.
When it came out in March, Wounded Rhymes (LL/Warner) was celebrated in the press for its visceral atmosphere and noted as a step up from her 2008 debut, Youth Novels.
She could not care less.
“The important thing is what I feel about it,” says the forthright Swedish musician born Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson, fighting jet lag in Los Angeles.
“My decision to release the album meant that I did love it, so for me that is it. That is all I need.”
That spirit of independence guided the recording process, which was undertaken partially in L.A.’s secluded desert hills.
Zachrisson had spent so much time surrounded by other people while touring her first album that being alone was a relief.
“I felt like I had to come back to some kind of privacy, and I think I can only find my own voice in a private space,” she says.
Once again, that voice will probably find its way into a variety of hip-hop songs in 2011. With Drake leading the charge, sampling Lykke Li became a “thing” a couple of years ago. Her spare aesthetic lent itself naturally to being chopped up.
The musician says she’s usually pleased to hear herself repurposed by rappers, while conceding that it’s not the most creative idea any more.
“I like it when they do it more than I like a house, electronic thing. But I think sometimes people are a bit lazy, too. It would be interesting to hear more inventive takes on it.”
Zachrisson counts rapper/producer Tyler, the Creator’s remix of her single I Follow Rivers as one such instance, though she knows absolutely nothing about him or his group, Odd Future.
“I loved that one,” she says. “That was really cool. I mean, that’s the kind of music I would put on when I’m DJing. I just love his verse on that, and his interpretation. He picked up on the darkness of it. I like that.”
music@nowtoronto.com
