Lykke Li
Lykke Li
Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson, known as Lykke Li, is a Swedish singer, songwriter and model. Her music often blends elements of indie pop, dream pop and electronic; instruments in her songs include violins, synthesisers, tambourines, trumpets, saxophones, cellos, and African drums. Li possesses the vocal range of a soprano. Li's debut album, Youth Novels, was released in 2008. Her second album, Wounded Rhymes, was released in 2011, followed by her third album, I Never Learn, in 2014...
NationalitySwedish
ProfessionPop Singer
Date of Birth18 March 1986
CityYstad, Sweden
CountrySweden
I think I've been a bit misunderstood; the first record was more timid than I wanted it to be. I don't like getting pinned down by sex or how I sound like because it's not who I am or what I want to be.
I had to do this album. I tried thinking, "I'm not going to do it." But then I'm sitting there getting all suicidal and depressed, and I just start writing. It's like this inner drive. If I could choose, I would probably be living in the countryside and be fine with that, but I'm not.
I dove into the craziness and did things that maybe I would think twice about when I get older.
I don't think Neil Young has a beautiful voice but it's something that grabs you and the songs are so good.
I always want to keep things unwritten. I'm inspired by Bob Dylan, who's kept evolving and changing his sound. I think that's what you should do as an artist. Why be comfortable?
I used to get really sick. I would go to the doctor with all these ailments, and they would tell me I needed to be at home. I didn't even really understand what that meant because since I was a baby, I've always been moving, moving, and then touring.
I've always been a person that is searching for truth and always wants to go further, deeper.
Sometimes when I write songs, I don't know what they're about, and it just suddenly comes to me.
There's more discomfort being an old soul or a person who questions a lot of things. I'm young, but I'm old.
I think pop culture underestimates people. The message is, 'Being yourself is the worst thing you could possibly be.' But people are still attracted to it.
I struggle with myself every day - I am a lonesome person. I talk to my family - and I connect to some people deeply along the way - but I am a restless soul. Singing is the most immediate relief.
When I play, I'm so in the moment that I can't really remember what happened afterwards. It's a rare experience for a thinking person like me.
I don't relate to the 'Twilight' books or movies at all, but I'm obsessed with it as a pop culture phenomenon - all these people just screaming like it was the Beatles.
If anything, I want to be seen as a singer-songwriter rather than a pop artist.