GRAMMY® Nominee Zara Larsson Turns MIDNIGHT SUN Into the Ultimate GIRLS TRIP
“A dozen stars must align to create a mainstream pop star, and this year it happened for
Zara Larsson.” —Pitchfork
Zara Larsson found a way to make summer last well beyond the season with Midnight Sun, a bright, confident pop record inspired by the seemingly endless summer nights of her native Sweden. Working with a close-knit creative team that included MNEK, Margo XS, Helena Gao and Zhone, Larsson moves easily between euphoric dance-pop and more reflective moments without losing the sense of fun running through the album. “Blue Moon” is made for the hopeless romantics, pairing warm melodies with a rush of drum ’n’ bass, while “Hot & Sexy” pulls from decades of dance music—from ’80s electro and ’90s house to Y2K pop and hyperpop—for something much more playful and unruly. The title track captures the album’s Scandinavian heart, and Larsson’s “Midnight Sun” Spotify Live Room performance gives the song another showcase for the voice behind all that polished pop production. Together, the songs reveal an artist comfortable being romantic, ambitious, vulnerable and a little outrageous—sometimes all within the same album.
Then came Midnight Sun: Girls Trip, which essentially invited some very talented friends along for the ride. The remix album reimagines the original collection with an international, all-women lineup that includes Shakira, Robyn, Tyla, PinkPantheress, Kehlani, JT and more, allowing the songs to change shape without losing Larsson at their center. “Eurosummer” featuring Shakira turns into a globe-trotting club moment, while Tyla joins “Hot & Sexy” and brings even more attitude to a song that already had plenty. Kehlani adds an R&B warmth to “Blue Moon,” PinkPantheress puts her UK garage-influenced stamp on “Midnight Sun,” and Robyn lends her unmistakable presence to “Puss Puss.” Rather than feeling like an appendix to the original album, Girls Trip plays like the party that happens afterward: same songs, new personalities, and a lot more people invited to dance.
Swedish singer and songwriter Zara Larsson has been making pop music professionally since her teens, building an international career that includes albums So Good, Poster Girl and VENUS before arriving at her fourth studio album, Midnight Sun. The project brought her back to the spontaneity of her earliest music-making while giving her room to write more openly about love, ambition, uncertainty, confidence and growing into herself. The album’s title track earned Larsson her first GRAMMY® Award nomination, and Midnight Sun: Girls Trip subsequently opened that world to a global group of women whose individual styles stretch the music in entirely new directions. After years of proving just how big her pop instincts can be, Midnight Sun and Midnight Sun: Girls Trip find Larsson having a whole lot of fun being exactly who she is.
For more information on Zara Larsson, visit ZaraLarssonOfficial.com.
REVIEWS
“‘Midnight Sun: Girls Trip’ is a journey worth taking.” —NME
“Hail the new queen of Swedish pop.” —Pitchfork
