Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson
(born 18 March 1986), better known by her stage name Lykke Li
(), is a Swedish indie singer. She released her debut album, Youth Novels
, in 2008.
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LYKKE LI TICKETS
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Early Life and Youth Novels
Li was born in
Ystad,
Skåne County in 1986 and was raised by artistic parents; her mother was a painter, her father is a musician.
The family moved to
Stockholm when Li was a toddler and later moved to a mountaintop in
Portugal when Li was six, where they lived for five years; the family also spent time in
Lisbon and
Morocco and spent winters in
Nepal and
India.
[1] [2] She moved to the neighborhood of
Bushwick,
Brooklyn in
New York for three months when she was 19.
[3] [4] [5] She returned when she was 21 to record her album.
[6] When not touring, she resides in the Södermalm district of Stockholm.
She released her first album,
Youth Novels
on LL Recordings in the
Nordic region on 4 February 2008 and it received a wider
European release in June, 2008. The album was produced by Björn Yttling of
Peter Bjorn and John and
Lasse Mårtén and reportedly inspired by a previous relationship of three years. It was released in the
United States on 6 May 2008. The album was released in the
Republic of Ireland on 6 June 2008 and 9 June in the
UK, promoted by a performances of "Little Bit" on
Later With Jools Holland on 25 May 2008.
She had some success with the
EP "Little Bit" in 2007.
Stereogum
named her an artist to watch in October 2007 and described her music as a mix of
soul,
electro and "powdered-sugar pop".
[7]
She has appeared on Swedish musician
Kleerup's
self titled album, contributing vocals to the track "Until We Bleed". She also worked with
Röyksopp on their album
Junior
, contributing vocals to "Miss It So Much".
According to her
Myspace Blog, she has started writing material for her second album but insists it will be a long wait until it is finished for fans to hear.
[8]
Lykke has become increasingly popular with indie music fans and took her particular flavor of music more mainstream with an appearance on
Last Call with Carson Daly on February 18, 2009. She has received a great deal of notoriety for her cover of "Knocked Up", originally recorded by
Kings of Leon who had approached Lykke to cover a song of her choice, and "Gifted" in which she performs with Kanye West. Going further mainstream, Lykke performed at the
2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 19. Lykke is currently working through her
Youth Novels tour.
Discography
Albums
- Youth Novels
(2008) Sweden #3, Republic of Ireland #66, UK #112, #18 US Heatseekers, #7 Aus Hitseekers
EPs and singles
- I'm Good, I'm Gone
- Little Bit
- Breaking It Up
- Tonight
- Until We Bleed
- Everybody But Me
B-sides
- "I Don't Mind (Jump On It)" - 4:13 included on the Swedish and UK 2-track single of "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
- "After Laughter" - 3:41 included on the UK digital single of "Little Bit"
- "Until We Bleed" - Kleerup feat. Lykke Li - 4:29 included on the Swedish 2-track single of "Tonight"
Guest appearances
- "Until We Bleed" - 4:24 - Kleerup featuring Lykke Li (Kleerup
, 2008)
- "Gifted" - N.A.S.A. featuring Kanye West, Santogold and Lykke Li (The Spirit of Apollo
, 2009)
- "A Little Bit (Remix)" - Drake & Lykke Li (So Far Gone
, 2009)
- "Miss It So Much" - 5:01 - Röyksopp featuring Lykke Li (Junior
, 2009)
- "Knocked Up (Remix)- 5:36 - Kings of Leon featuring Lykke Li
- "Were You Ever Wanted" - 5:38 - Röyksopp featuring Lykke Li (only in Japan)
- "Starchasers" (As A Sample of "Little Bit") - 5:00 - Charles Hamilton (rapper) (It's Charles Hamilton, 2008
)
- "Leaving You Behind" - Amanda Blank featuring Lykke Li (I Love You
, 2009)
Covers
- "Knocked Up" - 5:35 Originally by and Featuring Kings of Leon
- "Hustlin'" - 3:48 Originally by Rick Ross
- "Can I Kick It?" - Originally by A Tribe Called Quest (Regular live cover and Performed with Q-Tip at MTVu Awards)
- "Walk on the wild side"- Originally by Lou Reed (Performance clip)
- "After Laughter Comes Tears"- Originally by Wendy Rene
- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? - Originally by Carole King
Nominations
- Best International Female - 2009 Meteor Ireland Music Awards
Awards
Studio8 International Music Awards
Year
| Nominated work
| Award
| Result
|
2009
| Lykke Li
| Studio8's Female Voice of February 2009
| Won
|
Remixes
Her song "I'm Good, I'm Gone" was remixed by
Fred Falke and featured in
Hed Kandi's Lounge 2009
[9]
Her Song "Little Bit" was remixed by Drake.
'I'm Good, I'm Gone' was also covered by British group
Friendly Fires in 2009.
[10]
References
- Lykke Li: The Swedish pop sensation shows wisdom beyond her years
- Lykke Li: interview
- Lykke Li on Nearly Getting Mugged in Bushwick
- Swede unsoured: Lykke Li Zachrison on pursuit of the breakthrough
- Meet the Swede sensation
- http://www.killahbeez.com/2008/09/09/killahbeez-exclusive-an-interview-with-lykke-li/
- Stereogum Artist to Watch
- http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=45075548
- http://beta.hedkandi.com/Music/KandiLounge/HEDK086/Pages/default.aspx
- http://causeequalstime.com/2009/07/friendly-fires-kiss-of-life-video/