Through her tireless schedule of festival appearances and gigs across the world, MØ has slaved away to make a name for herself in music over the last two years. This week sees the Copenhagen-based pop star release her eagerly anticipated debut album No Mythologies To Follow, so we caught up with MØ (real name Karen Marie Ørsted) to find out about the album and her plans for the rest of the year.
Hi MØ, how are you?
I’m very good. I’m in London right now and I love being in London so that’s great.
Your debut album No Mythologies To Follow is out on 10th March, how are you feeling about it finally being released?
I’m very excited but I’m also terrified of course. We have been waiting for this and building up to this release for so long so it’s so surreal that it’s finally coming out. I’ve been so excited about it but now I’m like ‘oh no!’ because we’ve been waiting for so long, so I’m getting cold feet, but in a good way! I’m totally excited, it’s just so crazy that it’s finally coming out!
The cover is of some lips blowing bubblegum, why did you choose that image?
Well it’s because the album is very much about being young and confused and restless and lost in modern society. I thought it would be a good way of expressing that in a very simple, clean and ironic way. It’s like ‘so whatever’. As I remember from when I was younger, before you smoked cigarettes or got drunk, then it was like, chewing bubblegum, standing around looking cool with your girlfriends.
You have said that your current single ‘Don’t Wanna Dance’ is the only positive song on the album, does that mean it’s a pessimistic record?
No I wouldn’t say it’s pessimistic, but it’s very longing, I feel like the record is a bit restless, like I’m searching for an answer. A lot of the songs are about being young and confused and restless, like I’ve already said, but ‘Don’t Wanna Dance’ is about those hours when you don’t think about that, when you get drunk and you have fun with your friends and forget about all of the things troubling you as a person.
You released a cover of the Spice Girls song ‘Say You’ll Be There’ a few weeks ago, but if the Spice Girls were to cover one of your songs, which one would you want it to be?
I think it could be cool if they covered ‘Glass’ because it’s a big anthem and it would be so cool to see all of the Spice Girls singing ‘oh why does everyone have to grow old?’ I would love that!
What other musicians and acts are inspiring you at the moment?
At the moment I am very inspired by the producer SOHN, and not to be cheesy but life in general. Emotions and the stuff that happens when you walk around and the people surrounding you, that’s often what inspires me the most. I’m still inspired by that at the moment.
How come you’re still in the studio recording music, even though the record is about to be released?
The thing is, I started making music when I was a little kid. I need to make music. This sounds so typically artistic like ‘awh I need to make music!’ but it’s my way of getting my thoughts, feelings, frustrations and even happy things out. I just really love working on new music all the time, just having some scratches going. That’s what I really adore the most.
What do you do when you’re not making music?
At the moment when I’m not making music I’m doing a lot of promo because I’m involved in all of the hard work and other stuff surrounding MØ so I’m very busy with that. The last year and a half I haven’t had much time to just chill out and do nothing. It’s been very much about making music and doing promo and playing concerts a lot and all that stuff.
Your tour kicks off next month, are you going to be putting on a big show for that?
Yeah, we’re planning some new stuff, but we’ve been so busy with all of this that we haven’t had a lot of time to put up a new big, big live set up. But for me it’s not about pulling off a lot of easy tricks, it’s about letting go while you’re on stage and being energetic and going crazy and making people believe what they see. The most important thing about live shows is to show the people watching you the person behind the music, and to just let go. Yeah it’s about the music, the energy, and the atmosphere you create during the concert.
And finally, what other plans do you have for the rest of 2014?
Right now everything that lies beyond the release of the debut album is a blur because you never know what will happen. I just really hope that I get to tour a lot and make a lot of new good songs and the most important thing is that the people like the album. I hope the people supporting me and my fans will feel connected to the album and get something out of it. The most important thing about music I think is when you can touch people in a way that makes them want to do something in their own lives, so if that could happen I would be one lucky woman.
MØ’s debut album No Mythologies To Follow will be released on 10th March and will be followed by a UK tour, with all dates available here.
