Tove Lo – ESTRUS
Today, Tove Lo releases her highly anticipated sixth studio album, ESTRUS, out now via Pretty Swede Records/Virgin Music Group.
Primal, restless and emotionally unfiltered, ESTRUS pushes the contradictions that have always lived at the center of Tove Lo’s music into sharper focus: euphoria and melancholy, desire and doubt, intimacy and independence, the body and the mind. Across 13 tracks of propulsive, emotionally charged electro-pop, she embraces those opposing impulses without trying to resolve them, capturing what it feels like to want everything at once.
Arriving alongside the album is focus track “source of life,” a visceral final statement that distills the push and pull at the heart of ESTRUS.
Moving breathlessly through opposing states — “feral,” “fragile,” “numb,” “ecstatic,” “sad,” “euphoric” — the track finds Tove confronting one of the album’s most intimate tensions: the part of her that still wants to stay out all night against the part wondering whether it’s time to stay home and have kids. Desire, fear, love and questions about the future collide as her body and mind pull in different directions, bringing the album’s central tension full circle.
Speaking about ESTRUS, Tove Lo shares: “I think this album is fucking perfect. I wrote what I needed to write, not how I wanted to be perceived, and it feels like such an honest reflection of me — sexy, twisted, dark and full of contradictions. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me bring it to life, and I feel incredibly lucky that I get to keep making music independently and on my own terms. I hope everyone who listens vibes deeply and sparkly with it — and I’ll keep making music and touring until my tits are in my shoes.”
Following 2022’s Dirt Femme, a period in which she went independent, got married and continued pushing into new creative territory — Tove found herself with more questions than answers. Eventually, she realized that not having the answer was the answer itself.
That unresolved tension became the foundation of ESTRUS. As Tove puts it on “the bad one,” “two things can be true.” Across the album, seemingly opposing impulses are allowed to coexist: happiness and sadness, pleasure and pain, freedom and commitment. ESTRUS charts the full experience — getting drunk, insecure and starting a fight; walking home at 6am with mascara running, coming down and wondering whether any of it was worth it, then doing it all again. Rather than stepping outside of the mess to offer perspective, Tove stays firmly inside it.
The process of making ESTRUS proved just as volatile as the emotions within it. Early on, Tove and longtime collaborator Ludvig Söderberg got drunk and began yelling at each other about everything they were going through. Somewhere in that frenzy, the shape of the album emerged: all of the contradictions, the constant fight.
Inspired by The Knife, Robyn and the Swedish indie dance music she grew up on, Tove Lo recorded the propulsive electro-pop of ESTRUS with Söderberg, alongside Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser (Addison Rae). The album was recorded across Los Angeles, Stockholm and a small fishing village in Sweden where Tove spent summers as a child and previously created parts of Dirt Femme. Returning there brought her back to where she was first formed, reconnecting her with memories of growing up, relationships, family, loss and the messier younger version of herself. The record also features internationally acclaimed Belgian artist Stromae on “des fleurs,” its sole collaboration.
On the meaning behind ESTRUS, Tove Lo explains: “Estrus is an animal in heat. It’s primal. It’s my mind and my body wanting different things, wanting everything. There’s no good advice on this album… just a lot of feelings, no solutions.”
ESTRUS arrives following a run of releases that have gradually unveiled the album’s emotional and sonic landscape, including lead single “I’m your girl right?,” the Stromae collaboration “des fleurs,” and the biting, cathartic “DNH.” Together, the tracks offered an early glimpse at the album’s range — visceral, body-moving pop paired with some of Tove Lo’s most observant and emotionally exposed songwriting to date.
WORLD TOUR DATES
9/19 – Under The K Bridge – Brooklyn, NY Ψ Ω
9/23 – Coca-Cola Coliseum – Toronto, ON Ω
9/27 – The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA Ω
10/01 – Pepsi Center WTC – Mexico City, MX Ω
11/05 – O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester, UK ≈
11/07 – O2 Academy Brixton – London, UK ≈
11/09 – De Roma – Antwerp, BE ≈
11/10 – L’Olympia – Paris, FR ≈
11/12 – AFAS Live – Amsterdam, NL ≈
11/14 – Columbiahalle – Berlin, DE ≈
11/16 – K.B. Hallen – Copenhagen, DK ≈
11/17 – Spektrum – Oslo, NO ≈
11/19 – Avicii Arena – Stockholm, SE ≈
2/27 – Electric Avenue Festival – Christchurch, NZ ◆
3/01 – Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane, AU ✦
3/03 – Margaret Court Arena – Melbourne, AU ✦
3/05 – Hordern Pavilion – Sydney, AU ✦
3/07 – Ice Cream Factory – Perth, AU ✦
Ω – Mallrat Supporting
≈ – Rose Gray Supporting
Ψ – With Special Guest Cobrah
✦ – Salty Supporting
◆ – Festival Appearance
#tovelo