Tove Lo - Sunshine Kitty review: Obvious charisma lost in forgettable Scandi pop

Unambiguous: Tove Lo
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Harry Fletcher20 September 2019

There's been more sad disco-pop than flat-pack wardrobes coming out of Sweden recently. Robyn, Zara Larsson and Lykke Li are all involved, and compatriot Tove Lo is throwing her unhappy hat into the ring with her fourth album — a collection as enjoyable as it is exasperating.

Like its 2017 predecessor Blue Lips, Sunshine Kitty is packed with moody, electropop grooves and plain-spoken expressions of female sexuality. Game-playing and ambiguity really isn’t her thing — as she makes clear on love triangle ballad Glad He’s Gone (“B****, I love you, he never loved you.”)

Kylie Minogue collaboration Really Don’t Like U is fuelled by a heady mix of heartbreak and nightclub neurosis, albeit without any of the emotive gut-punch of something like Robyn’s Dancing On My Own. And while her delivery is refreshingly direct on the flirtatious Stay Over and the softer-edged Sweettalk my Heart, this often forgettable collection of songs doesn’t do justice to Tove Lo’s obvious charisma and lyrical candour.

The sad Scandi-pop field is a crowded one, and you sense Sunshine Kitty isn’t going to help her stand out.

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