Lykke Li lives in Los Angeles on a daily basis, but this summer Sweden has been her base while she traveled around the world on the tour for "The afterparty". At Way Out West she is doing her only Swedish gig this year.
The show is very brutalistic and relies heavily on the energy that the audience brings that night. It's best for a big festival. And we close the tent, so it's like an after-party, says Lykke Li.
How does it feel to meet the Swedish audience again?
For me, it's not so much about whether you're Swedish or not, what's special is that we meet at night.
Billboard number one with Drake
The live tour has also been more physical. Lykke Li says she has had to use her body more to "convey the desperation" in the new songs. For her stage show, she has been inspired by Mick Jagger, Prince and Iggy Pop.
"It can be quite boring to be trapped in the role of a female artist. Back then it was more fun to pretend to be a rock'n'roll man," she says.
2026 was also the summer when Lykke Li indirectly achieved number one on the Billboard chart as a songwriter for Drake's monster hit "Janice STFU" - which samples Lykke Li's "I Follow Rivers" from 2011.
As a songwriter, it was really affirming, like 'ah fuck, I got my first number one'!
This is the second time Drake has used one of Lykke Li's songs. Drake already rapped over Lykke Li's "A Little Bit" on his 2009 mixtape "So Far Gone."
Have you and Drake ever spoken to each other?
We DMed a bit, but the connection has been more through music. He's so good at pinpointing something universal and quite simple.
“Never stop”
In the media, "The Afterparty" has been described as a possible closing, but Lykke Li is clear that she intends to continue with music.
I'm obsessed with music and writing songs, so I'll never be able to stop. Then it's more about how much of your persona is visible.
Lykke Li is open to continuing as a songwriter and producer, or writing an opera and directing a film.
When you're young, everything is very ego-driven and about yourself. I'm a little tired of that. I want to continue creating art, but maybe not be a front figure, but rather let the music and art speak for themselves, says Lykke Li.
Lykke Li, born in 1986 as Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson, made an international breakthrough with "Youth Novels" (2008) and established herself as one of Sweden's great musical exports. Her music has long revolved around love, heartbreak, desire, obsession and loneliness - themes that on her sixth album "The Afterparty" are broadened to questions of death, transience and the meaning of life.
Her biggest hit is "I Follow Rivers" from "Wounded Rhymes" (2011), which was revived in 2026 when rap star Drake sampled the song on "Janice STFU". She has also collaborated with U2, Mark Ronson, Kanye West, Röyksopp and Woodkid - and with director David Lynch on the album "I'm Waiting Here" (2013).
Discography: "Youth Novels" (2008), "Wounded Rhymes" (2011), "I Never Learn" (2014), "So Sad So Sexy" (2018), "Eyeye" (2022) and "The Afterparty" (2026).
Film: Starred in Tarik Saleh's "Tommy" (2014) and Terrence Malick's "Song to Song" (2017), opposite Ryan Gosling, among others.
Currently with: The album "The Afterparty" and will be playing the only Swedish gig of the year at Way Out West in Gothenburg on August 14th.
