Tove Lo talks ‘Estrus’ and the power of therapy: “There’s way more love for and acceptance of the messy girl”

Tove Lo has spoken to NME about her upcoming sixth album ’Estrus’, as well as being inspired by Robyn and Lykke Li , her journey from depression through therapy, and the legacy of smash hit single ‘Habits (Stay High)’.

READ MORE: Tove Lo and SG Lewis tell us about their EP made “for the queer dance floor” Previewed by singles ‘I’m Your Girl Right?’ , ‘DNH’, and Stromae collaboration ‘Des Fleurs’, ‘Estrus’ marks Tove Lo’s first solo record in four years – the longest break she’s ever taken between studio albums, thanks to a period of writer’s block following her 2024 collaborative project with SG Lewis, ‘Heat’ .

“After that, I felt kind of creatively satisfied for a while,” Tove Lo told NME , “and then when I started to do this record, I was like: ‘Man, I don’t even know what I want to say.

Am I ready to open up again? I don’t know’.” Pressing pause on writing for six months, Tove Lo later settled in the small Swedish fishing village she spent summers growing up, working with longtime collaborator Ludvig Söderberg.

Here, the album began to take shape, with the ’80s-imbued synth-belter ‘Die For My Art With A Lonely Heart’ being one of the first tracks to emerge in the writing process. ‘Estrus’ is a floor-filling collection that sees club beats and slinky basslines coupled with the Swedish pop pioneer’s deeply personal pen and soaring pop melodies.

Inspired by Robyn, The Knife and Lykke Li, these are songs meant for the stage.

With preparations well underway for a live show that will “blow everyone’s minds”, Tove Lo was especially looking forward to performing ‘I’m Your Girl Right?’ thanks to “the punk energy and feral-ness of that song”.

Tove Lo (Credit: Press) Check out the rest of NME ‘s interview with Tove Lo below, where she also told us about writing ‘Estrus’, how the fishing village she spent her childhood summers at has become a creative hub, working with The 1975 ‘s George Daniel , and beating her demons through therapy.

NME: Hi, Tove Lo! You’re about to release your sixth record ‘Estrus’.

How did you land on its name? Tove Lo: “It actually took me some time.

I was searching for a word that felt very animalistic and primal, but also vulnerable and introspective.

I knew there was a word out there, but I didn’t know the word until it fell into my lap.

I was looking through these books in my studio in LA – that I go to when I’m dry for lyrics and nothing comes to mind – and this book in particular was called Feline .

It has descriptions of cat animals, and it said: ‘When a feline is in heat, they’re in estrus’, and in parentheses it said: ‘(female mammal in heat)’.