Swedish indie singer Lykke Li (one more reason for me to wish that I was Swedish, the list grows) released her first album in 2008 titled Youth Novels. You may recognize her song Little Bit which was sampled and remixed a ton over the last year or so. Her sophomore album, Wounded Rhymes, was released a few months ago and it’s a great step for her as an artist. On Youth Novels Lykke Li’s vocals are fragile and even innocent but with Wounded Rhymes she really shows what she can do as a vocalist. Track two, I Follow Rivers, has more depth and substance than a lot of her other work and while listening it gives you chills. The chorus “I I follow, I follow you deep sea baby…/I I follow, I follow you dark boom honey” shows an almost painful desperation that it just sticks with you (plus it’s followed by a great vocalized beat paired with awesome drums, too good). There are a few tracks I don’t care for on the album that just can’t stand up next to the fan favorites like Get Some and I Know Places but it’s the favorites that make the album worth the time. To me, Wounded Rhymes seems like it’s an intermediate step between Youth Novels and whatever album is to come which is pretty exciting. I also expect for more remixes to evolve from tracks on this album which I’ll be keeping an eye out for.

Check out Little Bit and I Follow Rivers here: