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Lykke Li

Lykke Li

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Biography

Introduction

Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson (born 18 March 1986), better known by her stage name Lykke Li (Swedish pronunciation: [?l?k? li]), is a Swedish indie singer. She released her debut album, Youth Novels, in 2008.

Early Life and Youth Novels

Li was born in Ystad, Skåne County in 1986 and was raised by artistic parents; her mother was a painter, her father is a musician. The family moved to Stockholm when Li was a toddler and later moved to a mountaintop in Portugal when Li was six, where they lived for five years; the family also spent time in Lisbon and Morocco and spent winters in Nepal and India. She moved to the neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn in New York for three months when she was 19. She returned when she was 21 to record her album. When not touring, she resides in the Södermalm district of Stockholm.

She released her first album, Youth Novels on LL Recordings in the Nordic region on 4 February 2008 and it received a wider European release in June, 2008. The album was produced by Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John and Lasse Mårtén and reportedly inspired by a previous relationship of three years. It was released in the United States on 6 May 2008. The album was released in the Republic of Ireland on 6 June 2008 and 9 June in the UK, promoted by a performances of "Little Bit" on Later With Jools Holland on 25 May 2008.

She had some success with the EP "Little Bit" in 2007. Stereogum named her an artist to watch in October 2007 and described her music as a mix of soul, electro and "powdered-sugar pop".

She has appeared on Swedish musician Kleerup's self titled album, contributing vocals to the track "Until We Bleed". She also worked with Röyksopp on their album Junior, contributing vocals to "Miss It So Much".

According to her Myspace Blog, she has started writing material for her second album but insists it will be a long wait until it is finished for fans to hear.

Lykke has become increasingly popular with indie music fans and took her particular flavor of music more mainstream with an appearance on Last Call with Carson Daly on February 18, 2009. She has received a great deal of notoriety for her cover of "Knocked Up", originally recorded by Kings of Leon who had approached Lykke to cover a song of her choice, and "Gifted" in which she performs with Kanye West. Going further mainstream, Lykke performed at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 19. Lykke is currently working through her Youth Novels tour.

Discography

Albums

  • Youth Novels (2008) Sweden #3, Republic of Ireland #66, UK #112, #18 US Heatseekers, #7 Aus Hitseekers

EPs and singles

  • I'm Good, I'm Gone
  • Little Bit
  • Breaking It Up
  • Tonight
  • Until We Bleed
  • Everybody But Me

B-sides

  • "I Don't Mind (Jump On It)" - 4:13 included on the Swedish and UK 2-track single of "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
  • "After Laughter" - 3:41 included on the UK digital single of "Little Bit"
  • "Until We Bleed" - Kleerup feat. Lykke Li - 4:29 included on the Swedish 2-track single of "Tonight"

Guest appearances

Covers

  • "Knocked Up" - 5:35 Originally by and Featuring Kings of Leon
  • "Hustlin'" - 3:48 Originally by Rick Ross
  • "Can I Kick It?" - Originally by A Tribe Called Quest (Regular live cover and Performed with Q-Tip at MTVu Awards)
  • "Walk on the wild side"- Originally by Lou Reed (Performance clip)
  • "After Laughter Comes Tears"- Originally by Wendy Rene
  • Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? - Originally by Carole King
  • "A Milli" - Originally by Lil Wayne

Nominations

Awards

Studio8 International Music Awards

Year Nominated work Award Result
2009 Lykke Li Studio8's Female Voice of February 2009 Won

Remixes

Her song "I'm Good, I'm Gone" was remixed by Fred Falke and featured in Hed Kandi's Lounge 2009 Her Song "Little Bit" was remixed by Drake. 'I'm Good, I'm Gone' was also covered by British group Friendly Fires in 2009.

References

Biography from Wikipedia