At Camden’s Roundhouse, the notoriously fun showman twerked in a phallus-decorated leotard – even though her parents were in the crowd
“My parents are here!” Tove Lo informed a party-hungry crowd at her London show on Saturday night. You might wonder how it feels to sing openly about sex, twerk in a phallus-decorated gladiatorial leotard and flash your breasts, all in front of your parents – but on Camden’s Roundhouse stage, that’s exactly what the Swedish popstar proceeded to do.
Along with Robyn, Zara Larsson, and MØ, Lo was part of the mid-2010s Scandi bubble, but her persona bleeds across the lines of her precise, functional Scandi-pop. Her sexual candour provokes polite society and stirs her audience into a frenzy on songs about lovers, drugs, and heartbreak. Though she’s written with Coldplay, Ellie Goulding, Dua Lipa, Lorde, and Duran Duran, she remains far less reined in than her mainstream peers.
Dirt Femme, Lo’s fifth album but first as an independent artist after leaving Island Records, maintains her output of reliably melodic, occasionally languid dance pop. These new songs formed much of Saturday night’s setlist, from raunchy opener Pineapple Slice to 2 Die 4 – featuring the familiar plink of Gershon Kingsley’s 1969 Moog synthesiser instrumental Popcorn, first released by Hot Butter in 1972 and resurfacing throughout the decades – and the glacial True Romance.
She cavorted across the stage to older hits, too. Swapping the leotard for sequinned mesh and bare feet, Lo gave the now-customary flash of her breasts during Talking Body, disparaged her ex-lover’s new partner on Really don’t like u – her 2019 single with Kylie Minogue – and turned the venue into a nightclub for fan favourite, her 2017 hit disco tits.