Following up on a mysterious teaser, Swedish artist Lykke Li has finally announced the release of her new album and has also unveiled the two first singles. “deep end” features Jeff Bhasker, Malay, and T-Minus on production duty while “hard rain” is a Rostam‘s production. The 10-track project also features a track with Aminé. Listen to these two new tracks and check the full tracklisting below.

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLO408PZgek”]

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ5zqTEDeHc”]

Lykke Li – “so sad so sexy”

01 hard rain

02 deep end

03 two nights [ft. Aminé]

04 last piece

05 jaguars in the air

06 sex money feelings die

07 so sad so sexy

08 better alone

09 bad woman

10 utopia

Topping razor-sharp beats over softer pop textures, BEFFROI portray stories about people, their flaws, weaknesses & addictions. There is a heavy emphasis on creating an atmosphere that blends in perfectly with Rori’s voice, shifting from hauntingly somber to remarkably overt, with ease. Her powerful, yet sensual voice will instantly stick with you. Recently, we caught up with Rori to ask her a few questions about BEFFROI’s brand new single: “Jade”.

Highclouds: In 2015, your debut track “Swim” has been widely received: what were some of the opportunities you got from it?

We had a few offers from record labels & publishers when we released “Swim” but we didn’t want to rush things. We’ve been waiting a little then the opportunity to sign with PIAS came up and we felt like it was the perfect family to grow with as artists.

You just released your third ever track and single “Jade” after a very quiet year, what kept you busy?

We took our time because everything went too fast after the “Swim” release. We had to build the live set, the whole image and visual identity around the project but the main thing was that we wanted to sharpen our sound even more.

There clearly is an evolution with slightly more organic colours on “Jade”, yet, retaining the characteristic hazy atmosphere of your previous, electronic-led singles: “Swim” and “Faint”. Would you agree?

Indeed! The atmosphere is quite similar – I guess it comes from the texts and stories we’re telling, it’s often dark & moody – which is a big characteristic of Beffroi. Regarding the production we wanted to bring the exact emotions through the music too. “Swim” and “Faint” were released quickly and we still had a lot of things to learn before sounding exactly like we wanted – we’re still learning but we’re slowly getting there.

“If someone relates to the lyrics of our songs I hope he’ll get better soon because they are quite sad!” – Rori of Beffroi

Can you walk us through some of the vision that led to “Jade”? Darkness seems prevalent…Is there a certain vibe you hope every listener gets or relates to when listening to your songs?

I came up with “Jade”’s lyrics while driving by one of those red-light districts in Belgium is famous for – I was listening to Val’s beat while driving and watching all those guys walking, in hopes of finding instant satisfaction really inspired me. A single man on the edge, feeling numb & empty; desperately seeking answers about love & feeling mechanisms spending money on those girls to have a little taste of what love feels like. The only time he finds closure is when he enters the “Jade”, but it never lasts long. With each song, we’re trying to immerse listeners into a different universe & story but if someone relates to the lyrics of our songs I hope he’ll get better soon because they are quite sad!

Out of curiosity, what was your path to taking up music professionally?

We didn’t mean to reach a professional level with our music at first, you know we’re just doing the music we love and feel incredibly lucky to see people reacting positively!

Who are your biggest, respective influences shaping your musical sound?

It goes from Hip hop to Techno through Indie – we have so many influences… We love Kendrick Lamar, Four Tet, Jamie XX, Aminé, SZA, Nick Murphy, Kllo and many more!

What’s coming up next for Beffroi? Are you sitting on many tracks?

Yep, our first EP is actually ready. We also have a few more on the way but let’s get those out first – we’re actually looking forward to see those out! So new songs, new gigs and a few other things we can’t talk about at the minute…

Connect with BEFFROI via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Coming from their new album “Revolver” out in June.

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDUUOt30TGA”]

Arnaud: I have to be honest, I never really followed Alt-J’s releases so far but I was positively surprised by this new track. This is well-crafted, quite subtle and I really like the “I just want to love you in my own language”. For me, “3WW” was like Third World War and it is true that sometimes misunderstanding can lead to conflicts.

Matias: I have actually no real choice in here since my roommate is listening to it on repeat. The track is really well-crafted and it stays very proper to Alt-J‘s sound with still keeping something very modern.

Remy Ma shared “Shether” and “Another One” where he was dissing Nicki Minaj on collaborating with Gucci Mane. Here is Nicki’s response: No Frauds feat. Drake and Lil Wayne.

Arnaud: Remy simply shot Nicki with “Shether” and her collaborative answer was so polished and clean. Remy is right: “Only The Kids Believe In You” and it is a bit too easy to attack popstars and avoid the diss with other rappers.

Matias:

After the huge success of “Caroline” the Portland rapper is back with a new track “Redmercedes”.

Arnaud:

Matias: I’m not really a super fan of Aminé for any particular reasons to be honest, but this production is so rich, I’m into it.

Coming from her mixtape “Number 1 girl” out today, Charli XCX shared “Babygirl” featuring Uffie via Zane Lowe.

Matias: I love the mixtape and this song represents a lot of what I like in pop: catchy choruses, good production. I think the album is going to be better though, since “Girls Night Out” will be in it and I’m waiting for that song to come out for already two years. And also, I can address an apology in here: I met Uffie a few years ago, and I was such a drunk asshole to her. SORRY UFFIE!

Arnaud: I was quite disappointed with the mixtape that was dull in my opinion if you compare it to her “Vroom Vroom EP”. Some tracks are really not good. “Babygirl”, her collaboration with one of her icon Uffie, is OK, though: the 80s-infused vibes are pleasant but I have to say I was expecting more from it and the whole mixtape.

Arnaud: When Jonna Lee of iamamiwhoami goes solo, the whole pop world benefits from it. I don’t know what’s the secret of Scandinavian people, it’s like if they were made for that. “Samaritan” is a great song and the visuals are dope too; as always with iamamiwhoami.

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVWOZqsIm_0″]

Matias: I wanted to talk about the Jonna Lee track but Arnaud already did. So, I’m going to put the last EP of Shy Luv called “Shock Horror” that I have been listening pretty much on repeat for a few days already. My favorite: “Nightingale”.