Tove Lo Doesn't Understand Women Who Don't Identify As Feminists

Tove Lo: How I Got My Voice Back After Career-Threatening Vocal-Cord Surgery

Today, wearing a black-and-white striped sweater, black jeans ripped at the knees and platform-soled Frankenstein-style boots, Tove — whose real name is Tove Nilsson (“Lo” means “lynx” in Swedish) -- is hanging out in the back room of a hotel bar on New York’s Lower East Side. She splits her time between apartments in Brooklyn and her hometown of Stockholm, where her dad is a businessman and her mom, tellingly, was a therapist. “I can explain all of my problems,” she jokes, “but I don’t know how to solve them.”

Watch a Behind the Scenes Interview With Tove Lo

At 15, Tove surprised her family by getting ­admitted to a prestigious music high school, where her classmates included the members of Icona Pop. (Robyn, whose second-wave career is a key influence, is among the alumni.) She wasn’t always into pop, though. As a budding ­musician she was obsessed with Nirvana and Frank Zappa; her old band Trembelbee trafficked in strange chord ­progressions and challenging tempo shifts. “She’s a rock star disguised as a pop star,” says Katy Perry, who had Tove open for a string of dates in 2014. “Her colorful words, turns of phrase and unique perspective keep me on the edge of my artistic seat -- and I think she’s just scratching the surface.”

Flume & Tove Lo's 'Say It' Music Video Gets Anti-Gravity Treatment: Watch

That unique perspective has helped Tove stand out among the polished stars who have spent the last two decades capitalizing on Sweden’s pop sorcery. Contrary to her hard-partying image, today she’s sipping tea and eating a takeout kale and ­avocado salad. Not that Tove is a teetotaler. She’s a fan of dive bars and Brooklyn warehouse raves, where she loves going unrecognized. “I kind of wish she could tour with us forever,” says Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine (Tove’s opening for the band’s current arena run). “We’ve already had some epic adventures: trying to get tattoos in New Orleans, jamming at an after-party in Miami, with Tove writing brilliant tunes on the spot.” But she’s also a vegan-leaning vegetarian who gave up ­smoking after her voice gave out ­following the tour with Perry.

The issue turned out to be cysts on her vocal cords, which required surgery and a long recovery period. It couldn’t have come at a worse time -- she had just begun writing songs for Lady Wood and was terrified that her momentum would come to a crashing halt. “Honestly, once I started writing, that fear just kind of disappeared,” she says. “I had so much to get off my chest.”

Watch Nick Jonas Perform 'Close' With Tove Lo on 'Saturday Night Live'

The result, which combines even hookier pop hooks with edgier, more rhythm-based sonics, was written and produced with longtime ­collaborators The Struts. The lead single, the moody Gone Girl-inspired “Cool Girl,” went to radio in August, cracking the Hot 100 and racking up more than 16 million views on YouTube. The follow-up, “Influence,” is an even purer Britney-ish blast of pop featuring a verse from Wiz Khalifa. He recorded his part in the studio with Tove, who felt compelled to break her no-smoking policy and get baked with the MC -- smoking out of a bong he made from an apple. “I told him, ‘I know how to do it too,’ ” she says, cracking up at the memory. “He didn’t trust me.”

Tove Lo Shares Her Top 5 'Cool Girls'

Tove is happily single and focused on her work, feeling like she “doesn’t have time to give to anyone but herself.” Before she began ­touring, she never would have thought of herself as particularly ­political, but she found that her very Scandinavian belief in equality for all wasn’t a given elsewhere. “To me, it’s strange that saying you’re a ­feminist could be something women would shy away from,” she says. “Or men, for that matter.” The title of the new album -- a slightly toned-down version of “lady boner” -- is typical of her frank ­attitude toward sexuality and ­feminism. “You know how when you’re talking about ­someone’s strength you might say, ‘She’s a chick with balls?’ ” she asks. “Or if someone’s a coward, you might call them a pussy? That never sat right with me. Lady Wood is just a better word than ‘balls.’” 

This article originally appeared in the Oct. 15 issue of Billboard.