Sweden's GRANT opens up about dramatic beginnings, debut albums, and identity

The Swedish singer follows in the well-worn footsteps of her Scandi-pop forbears to deliver an LP that's as eclectic as it is electric, charged with all the captivating power of the singles that preceeded it. We caught up with her for a chat about the record and its genesis, and ended up discovering plenty else along the way.

BEST FIT: In Bloom comes less than a year after your debut single "Waterline". How does it feel to already be releasing this body of work?

GRANT: I wouldn't want to have released anything knowing that I didn't have anything to follow up with. I wanted the album to be almost done, which has taken some time, of course! It's everything to me, and it feels good. I'm very proud of myself, and of the people I've worked with for so long for standing by me and believing in me. It's just the most beautiful thing, and I'm very grateful. [Releasing an album] feels huge, because I'm still an album girl. I never really got into playlists, because I can't make them. I make really sh*tty playlists!

How long have you been working on these songs for?

Two years. It started out when I met my producer. It's been a continuous work in progress, writing whenever we had time.

Why did you choose "Waterline" to be your introduction to the world?

It was one of the first songs I wrote with my producer, and was very much where everything took off. I had found a way of writing honestly. In many was it was a starting point. The song is about coming from a bad place and starting fresh and new. It's a song of beginning, so it made sense to put out first. This is my starting point, literally and musically, and this is what it will all be about: growing up and surviving.

How would you say the singles we have heard so far fit into the album?

There are going to be some surprises [on the album] – a lot more trip-hop influences! It has a lot more dynamic than I think some people expect from it. Hopefully people will be surprised, because none of my songs sound exactly the same, which for me is a good thing!

Latest single "Catcher in the Rye" is quite different to what we’ve heard from you previously. How has that been received?

I love that song so much. It's from a place of happiness, and I'm so happy that people seem to enjoy it too. So far it's only had good responses! I got to do a video with my friends, which was awesome. I even danced – that’s how happy I was! And I never dance…!

Everything in the process surrounding this song has always been so much fun, so it's one of my favourites. That could have something to do with being together with the person that I wrote the song for, so the emotion is still close to me.

A lot of the other songs are from past relationships, dissecting feelings from past events. When you sing those songs live, you're able to feel everything again, but listening to them now, you've sort of moved on. "Catcher in the Rye" is still happening, we’re still very in love. It’s just the cheesiest thing ever!

You said that "Catcher in the Rye" was one of your favourite songs. Are there any others on In Bloom we should particularly listen out for?

I have a song called "Gravity's Rainbow", which is very close to my heart, and of course, my most dramatic anthem, "Gone"!

Where did the name GRANT come from?

I wanted to give myself a name that was completely my own, without references to my character, to the name my mother gave me. This is the whole cake, it's all me, and I call that GRANT. I like the idea of having a name that sounds dominant, and has a masculine tone to it, which I thought would be great with my shy and traditionally girly personality. It would give me some weight, and I could stand by my name. So, I am GRANT. It's nice to have created my own identity, where every part of me fits, without someone else's conception of me… and I took it from Cary Grant, because I love Cary Grant!

How would you summarise In Bloom to someone who's yet to listen to you?

It's about growing up and discovering different parts of yourself, and really letting yourself dive into feelings and thoughts that are ugly and raw and beautiful in their simplicity.

Sound-wise, I have created a landscape of sounds that is very dramatic – perhaps more dramatic than people would expect, about the smaller things in life. These often play out a bigger role internally than you would think. It’s a bit like walking through my head; very dramatic and explosive, but caring for the small things.