Tove Lo: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Tove Lo built her career at the seam between Stockholm's hit-factory pop machinery and the grunge records she loved as a teenager at Rytmus Musikergymnasiet, where she fronted the rock band Tremblebee before writing for others. This mix traces that double life: Seattle distortion and Swedish melancholy, plus the collaborators and successors who turned her blunt, first-person hedonism into a template.

The Kynda mix for Tove Lo

• Key Influence · Nevermind by Nirvana (1991). Before she was a pop writer, Tove Lo was a teenage rock kid, fronting the band Tremblebee while at Stockholm's Rytmus Musikergymnasiet, and her press has consistently framed her as bringing a grunge sensibility to Swedish pop. Nirvana's 1991 breakthrough is the obvious root: loud-quiet dynamics, self-lacerating candour, and a refusal to prettify pain, all of which resurface in the raw vocal fry and blunt confessionals of her own hooks.
• Influencia Obscura · Silent Shout by The Knife (2006). The Knife's 2006 masterwork rewired what Swedish pop could sound like: pitch-shifted voices, cold synth architecture, sexuality treated as something uncanny rather than cute. It gave a generation of Stockholm writers permission to be strange inside pop structures, and its shadow falls over the darker, more dissociated corners of Tove Lo's catalogue — the tracks where euphoria curdles instead of resolving into a chorus.
• Local Roots · Body Talk by Robyn (2010). Robyn is the Stockholm precedent for everything Tove Lo does: a Swedish artist who escaped major-label packaging, built her own label, and made club records about crying on the dancefloor. 'Dancing On My Own' established the emotional grammar — party as coping mechanism — that Tove Lo's 'Habits (Stay High)' inherited four years later, and both artists route heartbreak through euphoric, unmistakably Swedish synth-pop craft.
• Beyond the Medium · Kids by Larry Clark (1995). Clark's film watches teenagers drift through a single New York day of sex, drugs and boredom with a documentary flatness that refuses moralising — exactly the register Tove Lo works in, and the reason her videos have repeatedly been flagged for explicit content. The comparison is a critical commonplace for her visual work: nudity and intoxication filmed as ordinary rather than transgressive, the camera declining to judge.
• Peer · Sucker by Charli XCX (2014). Released the same year as Tove Lo's debut, 'Sucker' is the parallel project: a pop record built on bratty punk energy, co-written with Swedish and American hitmakers, aimed at charts it refuses to flatter. Both women were touted in 2014 as songwriters-turned-stars who kept their own material's rough edges, and the two later shared a stage and festival circuit as the decade's designated pop provocateurs.
• From the Canon · Queen of the Clouds by Tove Lo (2014). Her debut album, structured in three acts — The Sex, The Love, The Pain — and built around 'Habits (Stay High)', the song that broke internationally after a viral video and a Hippie Sabotage remix. Produced substantially with The Struts, it established the formula: Max Martin-school melodic precision carrying lyrics about self-medication and wanting someone who is gone. Certified platinum in the US and the record that made her a name.
• Key Collaborator · Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding (2015). Tove Lo co-wrote this global smash for the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' soundtrack alongside Max Martin, Ali Payami, Ilya and Savan Kotecha — the Stockholm hit-factory network she came up through as a Warner/Chappell writer. It is the clearest evidence of her other career: before and during her own stardom she was supplying melodies to the Martin camp, work that also included material for Ellie Goulding and Girls' Generation.
• Legacy · Have U Seen Her? by Alma (2020). The Finnish singer's debut album shares Tove Lo's writing world — Nordic, queer, hedonistic, produced with Scandinavian pop craftspeople — and the two have worked in the same circle, with Alma appearing alongside her on the Tove Lo track 'Bad as the Boys'. Alma's blunt songs about nightlife and girls extend the template Tove Lo built: chart-shaped production carrying lyrics that would once have been considered unbroadcastable.

What influenced Tove Lo

• Nirvana. Article notes Nirvana's music as an influence on Lo through Kurt Cobain. (also via Nevermind) “as well as the rawness and honesty of his music with his band Nirvana” (Wikipedia)
• Robyn. Article states Robyn was a musical influence on Lo. (also via Body Talk) “influenced mainly by the output of Swedish singers Robyn and Lykke Li” (Wikipedia)
• Nevermind by Nirvana (1991). Nevermind (Nirvana) — titan for Tove Lo “She also became fascinated with Love's romantic relationship with Kurt Cobain, as well as the rawness and honesty of his music with his band Nirvana.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Courtney Love. Article states Lo idolized Courtney Love as an influence. “Lo grew up idolising Courtney Love and was inspired by grunge culture and the polarising lyrics of her music and her band, Hole” (Wikipedia)
• Hole. Article notes Hole's music as an influence on Lo. “Lo grew up idolising Courtney Love and was inspired by grunge culture and the polarising lyrics of her music and her band, Hole” (Wikipedia)
• Lykke Li. Article states Lykke Li was a musical influence on Lo. “influenced mainly by the output of Swedish singers Robyn and Lykke Li” (Wikipedia)
• Amy Winehouse. Article states Lo models her singing on Amy Winehouse. “She models her singing on the vocal stylings of Amy Winehouse, Jeff Buckley, and Mikky Ekko” (Wikipedia)
• Jeff Buckley (1966). Article states Lo models her singing on Jeff Buckley. “She models her singing on the vocal stylings of Amy Winehouse, Jeff Buckley, and Mikky Ekko” (Wikipedia)
• Mikky Ekko. Article states Lo models her singing on Mikky Ekko. “She models her singing on the vocal stylings of Amy Winehouse, Jeff Buckley, and Mikky Ekko” (Wikipedia)
• Janis Joplin. Article notes Janis Joplin as Lo's style icon. “Lo's look is often compared to that of her style icon Janis Joplin” (Wikipedia)
• Edie Sedgwick. Article notes Edie Sedgwick as a style influence on Lo. “Her other style influences include hippie fashion, and the fashion of older rock singers, the people of Stockholm and Edie Sedgwick” (Wikipedia)
• Mark Ryden. Lo's tattoo derives from an album cover designed by artist Mark Ryden. “the album cover was designed by Mark Ryden” (Wikipedia)
• Rytmus Musikergymnasiet. Lo attended this music school. “Lo is an alumna of the music school Rytmus Musikergymnasiet” (Wikipedia)
• Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette (1995). Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morissette) — titan for Tove Lo (musicbrainz.org)
• Silent Shout by The Knife (2006). Silent Shout (The Knife) — ghost for Tove Lo (musicbrainz.org)
• Fever Ray by Fever Ray (2009). Fever Ray (Fever Ray) — ghost for Tove Lo (musicbrainz.org)
• Trainspotting by Danny Boyle (1996). Trainspotting (Danny Boyle) — culture for Tove Lo (wikidata.org)
• Kids by Larry Clark (1995). Kids (Larry Clark) — culture for Tove Lo
• IRM by Charlotte Gainsbourg. Article states Gainsbourg's album IRM was the main inspiration behind Lo's music career.
• Madonna (1958). Article states Madonna as a cited musical influence.
• The Weeknd (1990). Article states The Weeknd as a cited musical influence.
• Silverchair. Article states Silverchair as a cited musical influence.
• Jack Off Jill. Lo's tattoo is derived from a Jack Off Jill album cover.

Peers and kindred spirits

• Body Talk by Robyn (2010). Body Talk (Robyn) — geography for Tove Lo “== Artistry == === Musical style === Music critics have described Lo's music as synth-pop, electropop, dance-pop, and indie pop, comparing her musical style to that of singers Kesha, Lorde, Robyn, and Katy Perry.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Satan i gatan by Veronica Maggio (2011). Satan i gatan (Veronica Maggio) — geography for Tove Lo “In March 2020, Lo released an English cover of Veronica Maggio's song "Jag kommer" in partnership with Spotify for their It's Hits playlist.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Sucker by Charli XCX (2014). Sucker (Charli XCX) — peer for Tove Lo “She has collaborated with many artists, including Alesso, Broods, Charli XCX, Coldplay, Flume, Nelly Furtado, Martin Garrix, Nick Jonas, Wiz Khalifa, Kylie Minogue, Seven Lions and Urban Cone.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding (2015). Love Me Like You Do (Ellie Goulding) — collaborator for Tove Lo “In addition to her solo work, Lo has co-written songs for other artists, including Lorde's "Homemade Dynamite" (2017) and Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do" (2015), a song that garnered her Grammy Award and Golden Globe nominations.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Heroes (We Could Be) by Alesso (2014). Heroes (We Could Be) (Alesso) — collaborator for Tove Lo “She has collaborated with many artists, including Alesso, Broods, Charli XCX, Coldplay, Flume, Nelly Furtado, Martin Garrix, Nick Jonas, Wiz Khalifa, Kylie Minogue, Seven Lions and Urban Cone.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Ellie Goulding. Lo co-wrote a song for Ellie Goulding. (also via Love Me Like You Do)
• Alesso. Lo featured on an Alesso single. (also via Heroes (We Could Be))
• Charli XCX. Lo featured on a Charli XCX track. (also via Sucker)
• Muse. Lo featured on a Muse track. “Lo was featured on the track "Get Up and Fight", by Muse on the Simulation Theory album” (Wikipedia)
• First Aid Kit. First Aid Kit featured on a Dirt Femme track. “The track "Cute & Cruel" features the Swedish band First Aid Kit” (Wikipedia)
• Pussy Riot. Lo executively produced Pussy Riot's mixtape. “On 5 August 2022, Pussy Riot released their debut mixtape Matriarchy Now, executively produced by Lo” (Wikipedia)
• Wolf Cousins by Max Martin. Lo joined Max Martin's songwriting collective. “the singer was signed to Max Martin's songwriting collective Wolf Cousins” (Wikipedia)
• Pretty Swede Records. Lo founded her own record label. “On 3 May 2022 she launched her own label, Pretty Swede Records, with Mtheory” (Wikipedia)
• Tremblebee. Lo was a founding member of the band Tremblebee. “She formed the rock band Tremblebee in 2006” (Wikipedia)
• Xenomania. Lo worked with production team Xenomania. “Working with producers Alexander Kronlund, Max Martin, and Xenomania, she became a successful songwriter” (Wikipedia)
• No Mythologies to Follow by MØ (2014). No Mythologies to Follow (MØ) — peer for Tove Lo (musicbrainz.org)
• Lorde. Lo co-wrote a song for Lorde.
• Coldplay (1999). Lo was featured on a Coldplay single.
• Flume. Lo was featured on a Flume single.
• Nick Jonas. Lo featured on a Nick Jonas single.
• Kylie Minogue. Lo collaborated with Kylie Minogue on a track.
• Martin Garrix (1996). Lo featured on a Martin Garrix track.
• Jag kommer by Veronica Maggio. Lo covered a Veronica Maggio song.
• Kesha (1987). Critics compared Lo's musical style to Kesha's.
• Katy Perry. Critics compared Lo's musical style to Katy Perry's.

Who Tove Lo influenced

• Have U Seen Her? by Alma (2020). Have U Seen Her? (Alma) — legacy for Tove Lo “On 7 June 2018, Lo released a remix of "Bitches" featuring XCX, Alma, Icona Pop and Elliphant as the second single from Blue Lips.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• if i can't have love, i want power by Halsey (2021). if i can't have love, i want power (Halsey) — legacy for Tove Lo (musicbrainz.org)