Albums to watch

So Sad So Sexy

Lykke Li

So Sad So Sexy

Fourth album of synth pop from Swedish singer, songwriter and model working with her husband Jeff Bhasker as producer

ADM rating[?]

6.8

Label
RCA
UK Release date
08/06/2018
US Release date
08/06/2018
  1. 8.0 |   God Is In The TV

    There’s plenty of hip-hop influence in the early tracks though it isn’t pervasive (but the Aminé experiment doesn’t really work). There’s also enough for her own purists to latch on to, and the odd danceable track, along with some very charming introspective ballads. A compelling mix
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  2. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    Her fourth album plays into the self-inflicted misery of dead-end relationships and blind devotion, all the while owning the title of a Bad Woman
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  3. 8.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    Generally speaking this is a wholesale reinvention that, however overdue, Lykke Li wears very well
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  4. 8.0 |   Q

    A parade of intriguing timbres and textures ensures each song is as seductive as the last. Print edition only

  5. 8.0 |   NME

    This is how you really do summertime sadness
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  6. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Despair you can dance to
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  7. 8.0 |   The Independent

    She once again proves that there’s no such thing as boring in her music
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  8. 8.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Lykke Li has a very clear vision here, which constantly pulls her back from the generic, or from sounding like anyone else
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  9. 8.0 |   Clash

    Few albums have ever been as appropriately named as ‘so sad so sexy’
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  10. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    Sadness may remain her true love, but when she flirts with other emotions, the effect can still be magical
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  11. 7.5 |   Under The Radar

    Li has produced an album of defiant, resolute love ballads that feel initially innocent and serene but can sting in the tail at the same time
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  12. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Synth-pop is new terrain for Li, and most artists experimenting with electronics for the first time often create a jumbled mess of clichés, but her first venture into the synthscape is largely successful
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  13. 7.4 |   Gig Soup

    After a long break from her critically acclaimed third album, Li returns with her most personal album yet. Filled with emotional, vulnerability, love, despair and raw beauty, 'So Sad, So Sexy' is one of Li's most introspective albums yet. It is an album that she needed to make as an artist and as a creator
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  14. 7.0 |   Exclaim

    so sad so sexy is an unusual blend of pop and R&B inspiration, but it's not a memorable album
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  15. 6.7 |   A.V. Club

    Best when Lykke Li embraces vulnerability and bares her soul, as on the romantic tragedy “Last Piece”
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  16. 6.7 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    Comprised of all the iterations of Zachrisson we’ve come to know so far; the curiosity of Youth Novels, the bombastic fanfare of Wounded Rhymes, the self-deprecation of I Never Learn
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  17. 6.4 |   Pitchfork

    Another record about an unraveling romance and the fraught sexuality of its final moments with diminishing returns
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  18. 6.0 |   DIY

    Clearly an album of personal and musical growth for Lykke Li - it’ll be interesting to see where she goes next
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  19. 6.0 |   The 405

    If Li can write about the next stage of her life with the same keen observation and dark contradiction of albums like Youth Novels and Wounded Rhymes then count me. Until then at least we’ve got some weird and catchy tracks to make do with
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  20. 6.0 |   PopMatters

    Mood music that works as well as a breakup album as it does a warm-up for the club. That's a feat not many albums can claim
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  21. 6.0 |   Crack

    Smart and sophisticated, it’s a fourth album reaching a new stage of maturity, while staying conscious of the industry that informs it
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  22. 6.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    The truth is Li should really leave the hip-hop influences too Janelle Monae and Lorde
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  23. 6.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    So sad so sexy has undisputed ambition, but the emotional mastery of Li’s best work is too often lost in the haze
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  24. 5.7 |   Earbuddy

    This is Lykke Li’s reinvention album, yet she’s using scrap parts from the junkyard
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  25. 5.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Prone to angsty hyperbole
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  26. 4.0 |   The Skinny

    Lykke Li's latest album fails to strike a satisfying balance, and while it's not a terrible album it's frustratingly complacent after two outstanding albums
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  27. 4.0 |   Rolling Stone

    The Swedish singer swerves away from the moody pop that made her a success to try out more radio-friendly fare
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