The Guardian | 30.04.22 | SATURDAY | 59she scooped the top prize on the BBC
Sound of 2018 poll , scored a platinum-
selling single with the mammoth pop
banger Strangers , became a fi xture
on festival line ups, and headed out
on her own extensive tour.
When the campaign for her debut
a l b u m , S u c k e r P u n c h , fi nished in
2019 , she actually felt relieved. “It
was a crazy few years,” she recalls.
“But I also remember feeling
bittersweet at the end, too. My band,
crew and I were all Norwegian and
experiencing everything for the fi rst
time. It was so exciting. The energy
was unstoppable, and you’re just
running on adrenaline.”
Before the pandemic hit, she had
been in Los Angeles for the early,
anxiety-inducing process of making
her new album, How to Let Go :
“Everyone talks about the diffi cult
second record, and I hadn’t quite
fi gured out what I wanted to do. It
stressed me for, like, a month.”
It wasn’t until Sigrid wrote It Gets
Dark with Norwegian songwriter
Caroline Ailin and Danish producer Sly
that things fell into place. The song
touches on themes of isolation and
overcoming adversity. “In my life,
I can appreciate the good stuff because
of things that have been diffi cult and
where I’ve come from,” she says.
“Being far from home can be sad,
diffi cult and lonely, but the highs that
come with that are just so worth it.”
I suggest that Sucker Punch was
an album that helped her become
a touring artist, whereas this new
record was about shaping her into
a recording artist. “Shaping is an
interesting word,” she says, bristling
slightly. “That’s something that
people have commented on when it
comes to my authenticity. They’ve
said, ‘Is she authentic? Is it real?’
At fi rst I laughed, but then I got sad
about it. You feel questioned, like
none of what I’ve done was actually
me and that someone else handles
everything. That feels like I’m being
discredited, both for my talent but
also for all the fucking hours I’ve
spent at the piano working.”
Such hard work appears to be in
opposition to her casual aesthetic,
even if it’s seen by some as a carefully
crafted marketing plot. “If you take
a picture of someone and slam it on
a billboard, that picture is a lie,” she
says in reference to the ubiquitous
image of her wearing a white T-shirt
and jeans. “It’s not natural to be at
a photoshoot and then have that
photo replicated over and over ondiff erent things, even if it comes
from an authentic place.”
Although she gives short shrift to
accusations that she’s an “industry
plant”, she is atypically deliberate
with her career choices, treating being
a pop star like the business it is. Citing
Taylor Swift as an inspiration in this
regard, she says: “I’ve seen interviews
with her where she explains that it’s
OK as a woman to have a plan for
your career. That’s not calculated,
it’s just smart. It’s smart to have a
plan.” In fact, it was such plotting
that allowed Sigrid to land on the
overarching theme of How to Let Go,
an album about moving on from past
relationships and relinquishing who
you once were. “But it’s also about
letting go of the doubts and fears
I have,” she adds. “I’m scared of
things, and this means a lot to me
because I am ambitious, as I think a
lot of artists are. I’m afraid of losing
it because it means so much to me.”
There’s an existential thread, too,
and album closer High Note sees Sigrid
pondering her own mortality as she
sings : “I got so much more to do /
When I run out of time / I wanna
know I’ve seen it through.” Like any
young person who has lived through
political and economic upheaval,
a global pandemic, and is witnessing
the climate crisis play out in real
time, thinking about death is
understandable. “The world feels
smaller and smaller every day. It’s a
scary time,” she says. “I think
sometimes you can almost become
paralysed by that fear.”
These worries are why she also
leaned into disco on How to Let Go,
most notably on the self-love anthem
Mirror and glitterball oddity A Driver
Saved My Life, an ode to blasting tunes
in the back of an Uber: “With the world
feeling scarier, I think people just
want some kind of escapism.” Morbid
thoughts aside, Sigrid has moved on
from the identity crisis she suff ered at
the beginning of the pandemic. “This
is going to sound so cheesy, but I’ve
learned that I’m stronger and more fun
than I think,” she says. “Sometimes
I entertain thoughts about what life
would be like if I wasn’t doing this
and lived in Norway, but then I think :
‘No!’ This album has really taught me
that nothing moves me how music
does. I’m back, and I’m hungry to
get out there.”
How to Let Go is released on 6 May on
Island Records. This summer, Sigrid
plays Isle of Wight festival, Glastonbury,
TRNSMT and more.The pop provocateur loves a power ballad and does
a jaw-dropping imitation of Kate Bush. But which
all-American banger can she no longer tolerate?
T h e fi rst song I
remember hearing
Joy to the World by
Three Dog Night on the
radio in the family car.
It came out in 1971 , so
we would have been
driving from our house
to our little cottage
north of Toronto. That
song seemed to come
on the radio every two
minutes, and we’d all
sing along.The fi rst single I bought
I like to tell people that i t
was Bad Girls by Donna
Summer that I used to
listen to in the car with
my dad. But really it
was Love Will Keep Us
Together by Captain &
Tennille. I bought it
from Sam the Record
Man , this record store
with a big fl ashing
neon sign – so far
more embarrassing!The song I do at karaoke
I can sing Wuthering
Heights by Kate Bushso perfectly, it makes
people’s jaws drop
and go: “Wait! I don’t
understand!”The song I inexplicably
know every lyric to
Probably every pop
song between 1973
and 1985, so I’ll pick
Total Eclipse of the
Heart by Bonnie Tyler.
I love a good cheesy
power ballad. They
make me feel whole.The best song to
play at a party
No one ever says that
they don’t like My Neck,
My Back (Lick It) by
Khia. It’s not too fast,
not too slow, makes
everybody feel sexy and
warms everybody up.The song I streamed
the most
Tears from My Pussy
by Christeene , because
I performed it with her
and had to learn the
lyrics, so at the end ofthe year, it was the
number one song
I streamed.The song I can no
longer listen to
I’m really an oldie,
soldie, doldie ... But I
can’t listen to American
Pie by Don McLean. It’s
so annoying, it goes on
for ever, I hate it. Shut up.The song I can’t
help singing
Kill V Maim by Grimes
because it’s so
ridiculous. I love it.The song I wish
I’d written
I Touch Myself by the
Divinyls is so good.
I like its swagger and
its laziness, but also
its candour at the
same time.The song I want played
at my funeral
Fuck the Pain Away by
Peaches. It’s my song,
everybody loves it, I
love it, they’re gonna
remember me fondly.
Everybody’s happy.
As told to Rich Pelley.The Teaches of Peaches
A n n i v e r s a r y T o u r w i l l
be visiting the UK from
10 to 16 June.HONEST PLAYLISTPeaches
JENNIFER ENDOM
‘The world feels
smaller every day.
It’s a scary time,
and I think people
want escapism’