Cool Girl
By Tom Lanham
T
he embroidered bomber jackets look rather unassuming , so much so that you might not even notice them upon first inspection . But when you look closer at the huge , skeletal design on the back of them , you ’ ll see what appears to be inverted shark jaws , gaping open with no threatening teeth , and with a round dot at the top and a crucifix dangling below . Then , every once in a while , the design becomes starkly apparent to the truly insightful viewer – yes , it ’ s a woman ’ s vagina , complete with clitoris , proudly declares Swedish alt-pop diva Tove Lo of the startling artwork , which she also has tattooed on her right arm . Additionally , the image replaces the two Os in her name on the cover of Lady Wood , her recent sexuallyfrank sophomore album , above a photo of her own hotpants-adorned crotch . But the outerwear , sported exclusively by her band and tour crew , has elevated the concept to a much more confrontational level .
“ We call them the Va-Jackets ,” giggles the Stockholm-based Lo , 29 , who was born Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson . “ And we were going to a show at Red Rocks in Colorado once , and somebody came up to us and said , ‘ Hey , what ’ s that sign on your back ?’ And some of the guys from the crew said , ‘ Oh , it ’ s a vagina logo .’ And the person said , ‘ Oh , it is ? No , come on ! What is it really ?’ They told him again , and he said , ‘ Hey ! My wife ’ s over here ! You can ’ t talk like that around her !’ And they were like , ‘ Well , she has one ! You should ask her about it .’” Lo can ’ t stop chuckling about the absurdity of the incident . She doesn ’ t see any of her behavior or career moves as even vaguely shocking , not even the use of the moniker Lady Wood , a witty nickname for a female erection .
Lo was raised in an affluent Stockholm suburb , the daughter of a psychologist mother and executive father . She was
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always the edgy kid on the playground who accepted any dares , and she stunned her folks by switching to Sweden ’ s artscentered high school , Rytmus Musikergymnasiet . After graduation , she was soon sculpting hits for others , like Girls Aloud and Icona Pop ( whose singer Caroline Hjelt had befriended her at Rytmus ). Then she was invited into her country ’ s most elite songwriting collective , producer Max Martin ’ s secretive Wolf Cousins , which earned her Grammy and Golden Globe nominations for her work on Ellie Goulding ’ s " Love Me Like You Do ." By the time she issued her Queen of the Clouds debut in 2014 , she was comfortable enough with her songwriting to compose hits like “ Habits ( Stay High ),” which trumpeted those age-old tropes of sex , drugs and rock and roll as the enduring panacea for heartbreak . In Sweden , the track won her a 2015 Grammy for Song of the Year and Artist of the Year , as well .
“ With my first album , I was very surprised when people started saying that I was this sexual , provocative girl ,” sighs Lo , who – like all Swedish students – had sex education from an early age . “ I thought that first I would get a reaction for being open and honest , for being like , ‘ Hey , I fucked up – I ’ m sorry .’ That ’ s what I thought people were going to react to , because in pop music , you usually won ’ t take the blame .” She was wrong . Singing bluntly about sex , she says , got certain prudish adults suggesting that she wasn ’ t taking appropriate responsibility for her increasingly-widening fan base of teenage girls . “ And I was like , ‘ Well , I don ’ t feel like I should have to do anything other than be who I am and not apologize for that , and I guess that is taking responsibility for young women ,’” she adds , defensively . “ And even if I ’ m not , it shouldn ’ t matter . I should be able to just be who I am and not be questioned all of the time . So I thought , ‘ Fuck it .’ I love doing things that give me rushes , because that ’ s what life is for me . So I ’ m going to keep on doing them . I definitely didn ’ t want to back down from any of the things I was criticized for . So I just went for it , even harder .”
Hence , Lo ’ s pop-cultural achievements over the past year , such as releasing a 30- minute film online , Fairy Dust ( to reflect the first half of Lady Wood of the same name ), which features the new anthems “ Disaster ,” “ Cool Girl ,” and “ Lady Wood ” itself , and co-stars activist Lina Esco , founder of the Free the Nipple movement . Thanks to its depiction of masturbation , the clip was quickly taken down from YouTube , but that barely slowed her down . Soon Lo was appearing at Australia ’ s prestigious ARIA Awards in a performance with Flume , where she donned a red seethrough dress with an anatomically-correct leather uterus and fallopian tubes sewn on at groin level , a look that didn ’ t leave much to the imagination . When her stylist proposed the daring design she pounced at the fashion opportunity . “ I ’ m comfortable in my body , so I was totally comfortable with it being like an X-ray dress ,” she admits . “ And again , I knew it would probably get some attention , but it was crazy , the reaction ! I did a bunch of interviews the day after , and people kept asking , ‘ Are you okay ?’ And I was like , ‘ Oh . Was it that bad ?’ I guess I just enjoy being the girl with lady wood !”
Speaking of which , Lady Wood the record only augments the Lo ’ s controversial reputation . It opens on a minute long instrumental , " Fairy Dust ( Chapter I )," then slips right into the slinky , finger-popping banger “ Influence ,” which features the rat-a-tat rhymes of Wiz Khalifa and kicks off with the disarming couplet “ First line take mine I ’ m fine as fuck / Love myself tonight and I think you can feel the same … I ’ m under the influence / So don ’ t trust every word I say .” The title cut follows , with Lo chirping in her deceptively innocent-sounding voice , “ Nothing but a dirty mind / Player burning bridges where she goes … Why judge a babe who dance , alone ?” The undulating , autobiographical “ True Disaster ” follows , with the sagacious declaration “ Pretty boys they didn ’ t teach me things I didn ’ t know / They don ’ t have that thing that I need but they don ’ t know they don ’ t .” The chorus hammers home Lo ’ s relationship ideology : “ Come on , give zero fucks about it / Come on , I know I ’ m gonna get hurt .”
Another minute-long interlude sets up “ Fire Fade ( Chapter II ),” a lead-in to the swaying “ Don ’ t Talk About It ,” perhaps referring to societal expectations for women in general when it comes to frank self-expression . The synth-supple “ Keep It Simple ” takes a breakup to its most elements , and puts the power firmly into the hands of the female protagonist with ” I go to bed with you but dream about him … Let me keep it simple / So I don ’ t have to face ya / Let it be just my call / ‘ Cause I ain ’ t ready for ya .” A kiss-off never sounded so sugary-sweet . But it ’ s not like Lo is completely heartless . In the serpentine ballad “ Flashes ,” she counters her own post-stardom confession of “ When I fuck things up / When I fuck things up in front of camera flashes ” with a friendly , inquisitive “ What about you ?” See ? She does care about you ! The album closes on “ WTF Love Is ,” which provides no easy answers , just a little self-examination , wherein a club-hopping Lo views herself as a “ Lonely babe stranded on the dance floor … I know that I ’ m a handful … know what you signed up for .” “ I need another !” she barks at the tracks ’ finish , never speci-
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