Album Review: Tove Lo - Lady Wood

Album cover

Lady Wood is the second studio album by Swedish singer Tove Lo. It was released on October 28th, 2016. According to Tove Lo, the album title means: "having balls as a sign of bravery, and also how people think of being a coward as being a pussy, which she mentions is unfair."

I listen to her music since 2014, when she released her EP Truth Serum and I remember that the first song I heard was actually a remix of her hit Habits. However, with her debut album Queen of the Clouds, Tove Lo showed me that she was a great singer, talented songwriter and a unique artist that deserved my attention.
Lady Wood is an amazing album that shows her musical growth and her unique music style. Lyrically, you will find songs about casual sex, love, confidence, drugs, romance and vulnerability. While musically, this album is darker than her debut album, because it has slow beats but it follows her electro pop style. She said that: "There’s definitely a different sound to it — we’ve gone a little bit more dark techno vibe with it, some of it. You know, blended with pop."

The first track is an intro called Fairy Dust (Chapter I). Tove explained it saying: "We had a very small screening for the first chapter, which is called “Fairy Dust.” It’s the beginning of a rush, when you’re starting to feel it,". Followed by the first song that is a collaboration with Wiz Khalifa. The song is called Influence and with it, the album opend with a very sexual vibe and sassy mood. The third track is Lady Wood in which Tove Lo sounds very confident about herself and this song is the one with a fastest beat in comparison with the other tracks.
This album has several danceable tracks and one of them is: True Disaster, followed up by the amazing dope track Cool Girl, that is the lead single and with it, I knew that Tove Lo's new album was going to sound different and dark. The second collaboration is with Joe Janiak; the song Vibes is also about a romance with a guy and the issue of this song is very similar to True Disaster. Vibes at first sounds like a ballad with guitar, but then it becomes an electro pop song and Joe's voice sounds perfect.

"What's your line, though?

That I'm fine, oh

Heard that before

But somehow it means more"

The second chapter of Lady Wood is divided by the intro Fire Fade (Chapter II), that according to Tove Lo: "is like halfway through the set when I’m getting a little tired and I can feel people’s attention lacking a little bit. I feel more aware of where I am and who’s with me." This chapter starts with an interesting song called Don't Talk About It, where she sings about the dark side of fame and its ravages. Don't Talk About It has an explosive chorus and it is very catchy and it is like a progressive song, because it grows with the pass of the seconds. However, the most vulnerable song in Lady Wood is Imaginary Friend. However, Keep It Simple is also very personal and emotional, actually I think it is my favorite song from the whole album. Nevertheless, Flashes "is like an outflow to a lover who is affected in a negative way by Tove’s fame and money." 
Tove Lo ends the album with WTF Love Is, which is a dramatic way to finish it, because in the song we can notice a confused girl with a lot of insecurities about herself and about her feelings.

Lady Wood by Tove Lo is a great dark album not only musically, but also lyrically; it so personal that you will feel empathic to her feelings. On the other hand, Tove Lo said that this album is the first half of a two-piece double album, which is going to be released in 2017 and I'm getting excited. I loved Lady Wood and I think it is one of the best albums of 2016.

Tove Lo - Lady Wood: ★★★★★

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