Lykke Li : Tonight

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

A Little Bit Madonna, A Little Bit Mary Kate.

If there is a complaint to be lodged against Swedish rising star Lykke Li it's often that her voice is a bit whisper thin; almost waif like.

I for one, think it's part of her charm but can now attest having seen her perform last night at Highline Ballroom in New York that the girl has quite a set of pipes on her.

She strutted the stage with the aplomb of a veteran performer. Wearing tattered fishnets, tall boots, and a Gaultier-esque slip of a dress with a large ruffled taffeta boa, she exudes an off kilter "it" factor. She bangs on the drums and waves her oversized megaphone around like some charming version of Mary Kate Olsen imitating Madonna. I know that sounds derogatory but in fact it's not. I dug this show!

From her standout cover of "Knocked Up" by Kings of Leon to her very strong vocal delivery of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by Carole King, she proved her metal as a singer who can go beyond her trademark dance-lite sound. She opened the show with an a capella verse of her hit "Dance, Dance, Dance" as if to say, "See, I CAN sing" and she closed the set with the one-two punch of the King cover (crooning "Tonight, you're mine completely")  flowing right into her own standout track "Tonight".

It left me wanting more, a lot more.

Lykke heads back to tour in Europe in a few days but you can catch her playing at both All Points West Festival in NY and Lollapalooza in  Chicago in August.

by Lykke Li from Youth Novels

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