I didn't quite know what to expect from a Lykke Li performance. I've exhausted the play button on my ipod plenty listening to her folksy croons while riding the bus uptown after a hectic work day. Her music mellows me.
So imagine my surprise when she came on stage at NYC's Webster Hall and commanded such presence with such insane energy and artistic freedom, that I was left all pumped up and wanting more. A frantic light show with willowing black drapes created a dramatic entrance for the Swedish pop star, who made her appearance all clad in black.
With a drumstick in hand and dancing on stage like a sorcerer casting a spell on the audience, I couldn't take my eyes off the way she moved, interpreting the music with her body language. She came alive. Her voice in one word? Hypnotizing. Her music? All over the place. But in a fresh way. She successfully manages to blend hip hop beats with some electropop topped with a bit of blues. What I liked most about Li's performance was how she incorporated just the right amount of instrumentation. Drums, feet stomps, tribal beats, and tambourines ( as a former tambourine player in my elementary school choir, I grew a little more giddy when it made a cameo) breathed an extra jolt of electricity into the music without completely drowning it, making it seem effortless.
When she dove into songs like Sadness is a Blessing, Love out of Lust, and Unrequited Love (one of her encore surprises), three killer hits from her second album with a well defined groovy 60's beat, she comes across as vulnerable about love yet brazen. She has the ability to transform her sugary voice into almost a lullaby in songs like I Know Places. When she sang I Follow Rivers, one of my personal favorites, I fell into a trance with delirious bursts of exhilaration. And hearing her sing Little Bit with all the minimalistic elements on stage, was the highlight of the night for me. It's melodious and trippy. As an added bonus, Lykke performed Until We Bleed, which I didn't expect but was so glad to hear it because I love the words and it's so ethereal when she sings, "I need you, to need me,"
Lykke closed her set with Get Some. Just like on the record, Li's sexual confidence and in-your-face attitude resonated through the venue and the fans were fiercely singing along, getting just as aggro and dominating. Get Some is another favorite of mine and the distinction between her bold voice in this song when she yells "I'm your prostitute, you gon get some!" and her childish ring in I Follow Rivers is absolutely brilliant and reflects the creative talent Lykke Li is.
Sounds cliche, but she left the room wanting more. Eager to please her loyal fans, Li came back out to perform an encore. And just when I thought it couldn't get better , Li busts out with Possibility. I would venture to say that this song really put Lykke Li on the map in the US. You see, Lykki Li wrote Possibility for the Twilight:New Moon soundtrack. And appropriately enough, Possibility captures the poignant scene in the film where Bella is devastatingly heartbroken because Edward has left her. Every teenage girl's anguish, yet ever artist's dream to be featured in a franchise where everything it touches turns to gold. The exposure was deserving.
A beautiful mash up of harmony and rhythm that can make the overall theme of a broken heart sound like the most pleasurable experience. Lykke Li knows how to put on a performance in every sense of the word. She manages to pull off the impossible- she makes you walk away with a feeling of melancholy yet happy at the same time.
Here's to you. Here's to me.
Kathy.
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