Last weekend I was at a music conference in Denmark, scoping Scandi indie bands and asking everybody’s opinion of Zara Larsson. “You mean the queen?” replied the first Swede I ran into. Two Norwegians told me they’ve claimed her ever since her first proper single, 2013’s “Uncover,” a Nordic No. 1 that Americans would barely recognize. Before they mention a song, though, people are more likely to tell you about a Larsson-related video or quip: her “Midnight Sun” music video that married the aesthetic of a nihilistic dolphin meme and a vintage screensaver; her “Lush Life” choreo, and the many fans who’ve all nailed it onstage with a good angle; the Dionne Warwick endorsement; her scorn for the Trump administration and uncompromising pro-abortion humor. “There are no classic songs,” acknowledged one Danish music guy who said his young daughter was the bigger fan, “but Zara Larsson is a classic.”
A dozen stars must align to create a mainstream pop star, and this year it happened for Zara Larsson. I’m not surprised to hear Larsson’s name linked to music’s preeminent specialty marketing firm Chaotic Good, the hardest workers since Kris Jenner. She’s a powerful, charismatic vocalist and a talented dancer, and not long ago she was… beefing with PC Music’s Hannah Diamond. But she wanted this bad (she’s got a song about it) and it’s been a whole journey since last fall, when she originally released her fifth album, Midnight Sun.
No score yet, be the first to add.
That record matched producers MNEK and Margo XS’ bright, slightly cleaned-up takes on hyperpop dance-pop to maximalist, girly-bling glitter in neon hibiscus hues of pink, orange, teal, and lime, like BRAT at a kids’ pool party. The music did not immediately make waves, particularly not in the U.S., where I cued up a preview copy and decided to skip it: “Midnight Sun” was pretty catchy, but other tracks weren’t as strong, and 10 years after most Americans had last heard a Zara Larsson song, I couldn’t picture anyone much caring what she was up to now. The Midnight Sun of seven months ago (which I’ll give a semi-canonical 6.9) wasn’t that newsworthy at the time—and whose idea was it to release an album featuring the hook “This feels like Eurosummer” in late September?
But if you have even a passing interest in pop music, you’ve seen Larsson on your feed quite a bit recently. She may not yet have truly classic songs, but she’s got current memes, which is arguably more efficient. Biggest of all for an American audience—the Scandinavians I met didn’t really hear about this—was Alysa Liu’s Exhibition Gala skate, set to PinkPantheress’ “Stateside” remix with Zara Larsson, a just-for-fun performance following her gold medal win at this winter’s Olympics. Liu hits her big finale Biellmann spin just at the part of the outro where Pink cuts most of the instrumental behind Larsson’s voice: “Never met a Swedish girl, you say?” The adorably choreographed routine bequeathed the great remix a ready-made viral video, helping push “Stateside” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and fulfilling Larsson’s dreams. Then Larsson’s other biggest hit, 2015’s “Lush Life,” reappeared on the chart too, presumably in some combination of streaming autoplay and people like me, who hear “Zara Larsson” and immediately think “‘Lush Life’!”
