Photos and review by ALYSON CAMUS
LOS ANGELES – For those who couldn’t attend her performances at Coachella, Lykke Li set up a special show at the Fonda Theatre recently and it turned out to be a perfect venue for the Swedish songstress.
Though Lykke Li didn’t take the stage until 9:15 p.m., fans had lined up as early as 5–6 p.m. and even had the great pleasure of seeing her arrive in a white van tagged with her name early on. She treated them to a surprise, handing out vinyl records with plain white covers that she generously signed for each person in line … oh, and I almost forgot—she also tossed out “Lucky Again” condoms (a title of one of her new songs) to the delighted crowd. Marketing has never been so rewarding for fans.
Her 2011 album “Wounded Rhymes” put her on the map: it was featured on several year-end best-album lists, and one of her shows at Amoeba Music drew one of those insane L.A. crowds that stretched around several city blocks. Then, when she was featured as a special guest on David Lynch’s album “The Big Dream” in 2013, Lykke Li became part of L.A.’s cultural landscape, while she adopted the city as her hometown.
After a DJ spun dance rhythms for about an hour from a private balcony inside the Fonda, Lykke Li took the stage and mixed some of her new songs with older ones during a relatively short set that truly captivated the audience. She is currently promoting material from her sixth album, “The Afterparty,” and performed several songs ahead of the official release on May 8. This new record comes as the long-awaited follow-up to her 2022 album “EYEYE”, and Lykke Li has described the project as one “dealing with your lower self—your need for revenge, your shame, despair,” while referring to her persona in “The Afterparty” as a “Ram Dass for fuckboys.”
Appearing on stage in an oversized, inflated black leather jacket, the Swedish songstress changed outfits several times during a highly cinematic set. After a few songs, she shed the voluminous jacket—which had been swallowing her frame—to reveal a tight black bodysuit and an angular, very short black leather skirt, completed with tall platform boots. The look gave her a distinctly avant-garde, provocative edge – partly aggressive in its architectural cut – in striking contrast with her inherent sweetness and vulnerability.
The set opened with newer, more atmospheric material (“Hard Rain,” “No Rest for the Wicked”) – marked by dense, moody, layered production – before moving through her catalog and steadily building in emotional intensity.
Her warm, nasal, and ethereal signature vocals floated elegantly above the synth lines, and for several songs she was enveloped in a dense fog while her musicians remained barely visible at the back and sides of the stage. The crowd broke into a massive sing-along during the second song, “No Rest for the Wicked.” “Thank you so much!” Lykke shouted, becoming a bit more visible as she continued with the emotional and heartbreaking anthem, “Just Like a Dream.”
The new songs – like the dancefloor-ready “Happy Now” and the single “Lucky Again”—were very well received by the adoring crowd. From the pop hooks of the slow-burning “HIGHWAY TO YOUR HEART” to the emotional burnout of the brand-new “Sick of Love,” Li truly captivated the audience with both her voice and her dance moves.
During some of these songs, she wore a voluminous oversized raincoat that floated and moved with the stage wind, giving it a sculptural, elemental quality.
The overall effect was somewhere between extreme-weather gear and haute couture, enhanced by plastic sheets that also billowed and drifted in the wind, creating a highly dramatic visual. For a few songs, Lykke Li appeared to be battling the stage elements themselves.
The middle section of the set featured some of her most sonically interesting contrasts. The electropop pulse of “Little Bit” carried soft, catchy electronic textures, while the slow and sparse “Possibility” soared on emotionally heavy piano chords, anchored by her beautiful voice and a warm, humming backing choir. The new song “Knife in the Heart” featured playful hooks despite the clear emotional darkness embedded in its lyrics. There was another major sing-along during “Sex Money Feelings Die,” which the entire crowd chanted like a mantra.
Then she delivered two songs from my favorite album and got everyone moving to the tribal, pounding groove of “Get Some.” It’s as swaggering and cathartic a track as they come – the line just before the chorus goes, “I am your prostitute, you gon’ get some” – which sounded almost industrial in its coldness, yet remained hypnotic, rhythmic, and provocative.
After this visceral gear shift – one of her most physically aggressive moments of the night – she left the stage, only to return with everyone’s favorite: “I Follow Rivers,” performed first in its original form before transitioning into the Magician Remix, with its euphoric, driving pulse underneath. The emotional centerpiece was the kind of ending that hits the crowd right in the chest. Meanwhile, near the end of the song, Lykke Li lit a cigarette and disappeared into the crowd, followed by a cloud of smoke.
Setlist
Hard Rain
No Rest for the Wicked
Just Like a Dream
Happy Now
Lucky Again
HIGHWAY TO YOUR HEART
Sick of Love
Little Bit
Possibility
Knife in the Heart
sex money feelings die
Get Some
Encore:
I Follow Rivers / I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)
