AmberValent unveils the sugar-rush sparkle-pop of "4U"

06 July 2017, 10:30 | Written by Austin Maloney

(Tracks)

(AmberValent)

It's fair to say that Swedish-American, Stockholm-based artist AmberValent keeps herself busy. As well as her solo output (she released an EP of distorted digital dance music called Paragon last year), she's also one of Sweden's busiest DJs and runs the club night FLEXX. Now however, her focus is back on her music, and she's got a brand new single.

"4U" is a collaboration with rapper Yemi, and it's a candycane-sweet pop song, packed with pep and irresistibly catchy.

It's probably her most straightforwardly poppy outing to date, but still retains that club soul in its bouncing rhythm and groove. Pairing the gloom in the lyrics with music so melodically sugary feels cathartic, like there's a sense of release in the chorus: "I will never be the one for you". Check out the song above, and an interview with AmberValent below.

Ok, so first of all, tell us about "4U"

"It kind of wrote itself. I wanted something catchy, relatable but also a little unusual in the context of love songs, and that for me is breaking up without broken hearts. It actually started out quite dark with the hook but the more I worked on it, the more I felt it was quite a liberating meaning to the song."

"4U" is a collaboration with Yemi. How did you guys end up working together?

"We’ve known each other forever, so it was kind of about time we did something together. I admire his sense of timing and melody as well as his lyricism. We were already in the studio working on other projects when I showed him the song and I’m really happy he liked it and wanted to collaborate on this. It’s special working with old friends like this."

You’ve said that the song is “what happens when rappers do pop music”. Do you draw creative energy from moving between genres?

"I think that’s kind of a go-to thing in music, especially nowadays. I find it very interesting to mix genres that are sort of far apart, and I often discover that they have quite more in common than you might think. So this song combines a Afrobeats-production with pop/Eurodance melodies and rap, and it was really nice to see how they all came together."

How do the next few months look? What are you planning in terms of releases?

"I am going on tour in Europe as supporting act and DJ for Gnučči, and I’m planning a couple of more releases and shows throughout the summer, which is very exciting!"

"4U" is out tomorrow.