Sigrid Breaks Down Her 'Unapologetic' Debut Album, Sucker Punch
Sigrid has delivered a knockout blow with
Sucker Punch. The 22-year-old's debut album arrived on Friday (March 8), soon after more than two years of hype surrounding Norway's prized pop export. Not that she was just sitting around all that time. Once you picture it, I've almost released an album already with all of EPs and all of the singles," she told MTV News through the email, referring to "Strangers," "Don't Kill My Vibe," and the slew of other certified hits that have skyrocketed her to superstardom-in-waiting.
Whittled down from around 70 demos,
Sucker Punch comprises the perfect of Sigrid's catalogue of heart-on-sleeve bangers. Though she admits finalizing the tracklist was a genuine kill your darlings scenario," the resulting project fulfills her mission of making the music she routinely wanted to prepare. "I think 16-year-old me could be really overjoyed now she mentioned, adding that the 12 tracks really live up to the album's evocative title.
"All of the songs are a little bit of sucker punches. They're all very in-your-face kind of songs. No matter if it's a ballad or up-tempo song, they're all songs you have got to put on full volume," she explained. "They're there to be heard; they're unapologetic and so they require to be listened to."
Fans already know and love the irresistibly dancey "
Strangers," the love-smacked
title track, and the searing kiss-off "
Don't Kill My Vibe." Below, the former
MTV Push artist breaks down some of
Sucker Punch's other highlights. (Remember: Put these suckers on full volume.)
"Basic"
generic has become a descriptor for something boring, average, and monotonous, although Sigrid turns that idea on its head whenever she sings, "Let's be real, I'm just saying / in case you feel it, don't cage it / Ooh, I wanna be basic… can I be generic with you?" She explained, "The whole flip side of that song is that you wanna be generic with someone. You wanna do all of the cringe stuff; you wanna be pretty and all that."
Written in London a couple years back, generic was originally conceived as a piano ballad before eventually being bolstered up by booming synths plus a brazen "nah nah nah nah" refrain. Still, Sigrid adds an intimate touch any time, two-thirds by means of the song, the production cuts off and you also hear only her demo vocals. "I wanted something special towards the end. ... It was really fun and very real," she said.
This punchy track finds Sigrid decided to power through a breakup positively: "Wallowing in it could be such a waste," she declares through a wry smile. Getting those feelings on paper is admittedly challenging she mentioned, yet it was worth it to "get something good out of something bad."
"I wanted 'Don’t Feel Like Crying' to be a fun song," she mentioned. "I wanted it to be something to distract people from the sad stuff and just dance, and then once they listen to it at a club or a party with their companions, they'll be like, 'Woah! This is such a tune.' Although then as soon as they listen to it alone, maybe on their way residence from the party or going for a run or just sitting at residence on the couch, they'll be like, 'Oh, this is actually really sad.' I love that — as soon as you could get the song to work in different types of environments."
"Level Up"
Clocking in at just under three minutes, this is the shortest and quietest track on the album; you half-expect it to explode into a monstrous sugar-rush hook at some point, although Sigrid purposely kept this one minimal.
"I really wanted to keep that one low-key and no fuss on it. Songs like that are a big piece of me and my music taste," she mentioned of "Level Up," which was written in just one afternoon and partially inspired by Nick Drake. "It was a nice, brief moment. The intention of the song was to tell something that meant a lot to me and wrap it in a pretty melody. It was just very organic and really organic."
"Sight of You"
"Sight of You" sounds like something that could soundtrack the climactic scene of a rom-com, nevertheless it's actually not a romantic love song at all.
"Actually, this is a love song to my musical group and the people coming to our shows, because I just love touring," Sigrid mentioned. "There's especially one festival in Ireland called Electric Picnic that inspired this song to be written. It's about how you some days have to travel a lot to get to these gigs and also it could be hard to be away from house although, 'just the sight of you is getting the perfect out of me.'"
Describing that central lyric, she continued, "I gotta admit, if I have a bad day, As soon as I just visualize the musical group backstage, that sight of these is just the perfect. They make me really happy. That's the one sight. The other sight is walking on stage and seeing people go like, 'rahhhh!' Like, full-on rage while in our set. That is staggering and it also means everything to me."
"In Vain"
This raw number has been a staple of Sigrid's live show for a while right now, and the way it builds and morphs from a ballad to a banger is truly something behold.
"It's really fun to be able to see people experience 'In Vain' live," she mentioned. "It was critical to put it on the record because I know there is lots of fans who really like that song and it's a key segment of our set. It's excellent to be able to see the audience react to that song and it's really fun as soon as that beat drops."
"Business Dinners"
One of the album's brightest and quirkiest moments is corporation Dinners," which almost acts like a sequel to "Don't Kill My Vibe." "You just want me to be photographs, numbers, figures, I'm just attempting to be me," Sigrid asserts on the bouncy number, giving another middle finger to condescending industry bigwigs.
company Dinners' is more general, how it was a little bit overwhelming in the starting with everything happening. This is a song that was written quite early on," she explained of the synthy, Studio Ghibli-inspired song. "It's a little bit of a sassy track."
"Dynamite"
Closing the album with an emotional gut sucker punch is the tender "Dynamite," which first appeared on Sigrid's 2017 debut Don't Kill My Vibe EP. A heartbreaker of a ballad, it was a fitting finale to an assignment so near and dear to her heart.
"'Dynamite' is such a powerful song. It means so, so, so much to me and it's habitually been one of my preferred songs to play live," she mentioned. "Touring has been such a big segment of this album because I've Been writing it for the past two years and I've done shit-tons of things in between, so it's only organic that the live touring would color it. 'Dynamite' has habitually been a song that's been close to my heart, I guess. It's very personal."
Sucker Punch is out right now — stream it in its entirety below.
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