Tove Lo’s new album, Estrus, finds the Swedish pop star confronting questions about motherhood, marriage and domestic life while resisting pressure to become more settled and responsible.
The record, due to be released on September 18, was shaped in part by her long-term relationship with Charlie Twaddle, a New Zealand producer and creative director whom she married in 2020. It continues Lo’s interest in sex and excess, but also reflects her uncertainty about what adulthood is supposed to look like.
“I’m thinking about these things, but I’m in no way ready for it,” Lo said. “I feel I’m being told by the outside world that I’m a grown woman now and I’m supposed to set roots and settle down and act accordingly and be responsible and have answers for everything, and I’m just not there at all.”
Lo, who is approaching 39, has spent much of her career writing candidly about drugs, drinking, sex and emotional disorder. She said the growing acceptance of such themes in pop meant she could now explore them without having to defend herself in the same way.
“It’s nice to get to sing about these things without needing to defend myself any more,” she said, suggesting that the current appetite for messier female pop may reflect both artists taking control of their narratives and wider social tensions.
Tove Lo weighs motherhood and the pressure to grow up
The title Estrus refers to the period when a female animal is in heat and ready to procreate. Lo has described the album as her “Peter Pan record”, driven by the wish not to grow up even as she feels increasingly expected to do so.
“Being in a relationship for this long and having found someone I want to be with for the rest of my life is quite a new feeling for me in terms of my creativity,” she said. “But I’m still messy and I party too much and I say the wrong thing a lot.”
That tension appears in songs about domestic frustration as well as desire. On I’m the Cake, Lo imagines demanding recognition from her partner, singing: “Babe, I’m a pop star, did you just forget?”
The album’s closing track, Source of Life, addresses her anxiety about motherhood. Lo said she had never pictured herself becoming a parent, despite feeling that her body was now telling her it was time.
“Parenting does feel like the ‘final boss’ of adventures, right?” she said. “I am very curious about it. But, for me, I have a hard time picturing it. I’ve never dreamt about it, it’s never been something I’ve wanted, but now my body is telling me ‘It’s time!’ and my brain is like, ‘No!’”
She added that the physical demands of pregnancy were part of her hesitation, joking that she and her husband might already have children if he were able to become pregnant.
Lo previously explored conflicting feelings about motherhood in Suburbia, from her 2022 album Dirt Femme. She said it was encouraging to see other pop artists discussing the subject without presenting motherhood as an uncomplicatedly positive experience.
“Women speaking about struggling with this picture of motherhood as only a positive seems to really trigger something in people,” she said. “So I love that the topic is just out there, and in pop as well. It’s really beautiful to see.”
Lo is due to perform in Brisbane on March 1, Melbourne on March 3, Sydney on March 5 and Perth on March 7 as part of a forthcoming world tour.
