Zara Larsson revels in her career 'breakthrough'

The 28-year-old pop star released her debut album, 1, back in 2014 - but Zara acknowledges that she's currently riding the crest of a wave.

The blonde beauty - who released Midnight Sun, her most-recent album, in 2025 - told Perfect Magazine: "I definitely feel that there’s a shift in my career and in how people are reacting to me and my music.

"I was lucky enough to have a really big hit with my first song, Uncover, in Scandinavia. Then Lush Life and Never Forget You went really well. But it never felt like one song was building up to something bigger. It felt like I had these big songs, and they weren’t really tied to my artistry."

Zara's former record label previously suggested that she might contend for the Best New Artist Grammy Award. But Zara thinks that would be a disservice to everything she's already achieved in her career.

She said: "I was speaking to my former label about this, and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to see if we can put you in Best New Artist for the Grammys.’ And I’m like, I don’t even want that. That would downplay the 13 years of me being an artist. I’m not a new artist.

"But that’s why I like ‘breakthrough’. It feels like the whole world is looking at me at the same time. Before, this song was successful over here, and another song a year later was successful over there. Now it feels like it’s all coming together quite nicely."

Zara believes a recent rise in self-confidence has changed the course of her career.

She said: "That’s the biggest difference with Midnight Sun compared to my other albums.

"I feel like one day I just woke up. I started working with my friend Vendela Hyde, who is also managing me now, and I realised, wait, I can do all of this. I think it was a confidence thing.

"I started out so young. I had just turned 13 when I signed my record deal.

"I always picked my songs, but a lot of it was handed to me. It didn’t really grow from inside of me. That made me confused about, well, what do I think?"