Kygo recently stopped by the Billboard office to share the story behind how he wrote “Kids in Love,” the title track from his latest album, as part of the “How It Went Down” video series.
The Norwegian producer explains that he was working on new music in a studio in Los Angeles when writer Martin Johnson came in. “I played him some music, some old school stuff, like Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ cause I’m super inspired by those old school tracks, and I told him I wanted to do something like this, like something in that kinda area.”
Having been in a rock band himself, Johnson [who formerly fronted pop-rock outfit Boys Like Girls] “got it right away,” then came up with the basic lyrics, basic verse and basic chorus, which Kygo then started producing around.
Johnson also initially came up with the lyric “kids in love,” which Kygo felt was perfect the moment he heard it. “It’s just so powerful,” he explains. “It’s just about being super passionate about someone or something and I’m super passionate about music and I felt like ‘Kids in Love’ was just a great name for it.”
He adds that when he heard the lyrics, he imagined a younger version of himself playing piano in his mother’s house. “When I play the piano, when I’m making melody that I love, I feel like a kid in love. That’s like the only feeling I can compare it with.”
Kygo also shares that while working on “Kids in Love,” he was bouncing back and forth between two studios, working on two songs at once, the other one being “It Ain’t Me,” his collaboration with Selena Gomez. “So actually on the same day I kinda wrote two of my favorite songs I’ve ever done,” he says, “so that was a pretty efficient day in the studio.”
Watch the video above to hear the full story of how “Kids in Love” went down, and revisit the song below.