REVIEW: Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

Lykke Li
Wounded Rhymes
(out of 5)

There seems to be a lot of female hurt coming out of Scandinavia at the moment. Last year, petite pop legend Robyn took Nordic heartbreak to exciting new levels through the amazing Body Talk series. On a more ‘indie’ level, the androgynous meandering of Karin Dreijer Andersson (The Knife, Fever Ray) has created some pretty heart-heavy music.

Even the literature up there has been picking up on the trend, with bestsellers like 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (and sequels) taking the known world by storm.

Maybe it’s the schizophrenic polar climate, maybe the men just suck - but whatever the reason, Lykke Li’s latest offering continues down this emotional spiral staircase. Wounded Rhymes is like attending a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, and standing back in horror as some hurting girl writhes on the floor thoughtlessly dumping on everyone in the circle of trust. All you can do is freak out and spill your complimentary tea or coffee. As a boy, that is all you are allowed do - and that is exactly how I have approached this record.

Lykke Li has clearly seen the good side of love, but sadly a few rough years have heavily tainted the mirrors of happiness. “I’m your prostitute/you’re gon’ get some”, she pouts. Gone is the girl who was once “a little bit in love with you”. All she can give is the empty physicality of sex; the once-wonderful languages of love translated into muted shameful silence. She’s “got you ‘round her finger”; you may as well kiss your heart goodbye while you’re there. 

Water is a common theme throughout the record, one that shows up most obviously in 'I Follow Rivers'. The song’s associated video follows the traumatic escape of a young man from his messed up girl, trampling through a bleak snow desert and out onto the frozen coast. It’s a very understandable response to some of the shit us boys have to go through, and the quandary has been highlighted in quite a lot of pop culture recently (Frightened Rabbit’s 'Swim Until You Can’t Reach Land', Frank Ocean’s 'Swim Good' and The Tallest Man on Earth’s 'Love Is All' are all notable examples).

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers

In an interesting turn, Odd Future vagrant Tyler, the Creator was asked by Lykke Li’s label to re-edit the track, creating a form of call and response. The track is slowed to a morbid pace, and appended by a scalding verse from Tyler, questioning the girl’s fragile promise to “follow you/deep sea, baby”. Continuing the ocean metaphor, he reveals that he “swam in your ocean of love/but (he) had a life jacket cause (he’s) not that dumb”. The intriguing interplay of female insecurity and male frustration is a compelling must-listen.

I can’t say I have enjoyed this record, but I suppose I am not really meant to - I’m treating it more as a steep learning curve. At its core, Wounded Rhymes is a distressing series of memoirs-to-music. Lykke Li is a little girl letting you in, just like all the boys she shouldn’t have in the past. This is her cathartic response to the dark corners of her life, and now you have to deal with it.

Enjoy.

Written by Theo Sangster.