Is it hot in here or is it just Tove Lo and SG Lewis? The collaborators and friends (who first met on the dance floor) just announced a new EP called HEAT, which drops June 14 on Tove Lo’s Pretty Swede Records, coming for us at the exact sweaty, summer moment we need it.
The four-track EP isn’t the duo's first rodeo. The two gave us “Call On Me,” which featured on SG Lewis’ AudioLust & Higher Love and Tove Lo’s Dirt Femme. They also worked together on Tove Lo’s funky disco track “Pineapple Slice.” Last month, the pair joined Nelly Furtado for her single, “Love Bites” (which Furtado told us came to be after she ran into SG at a festival.) And later this month they’ll be taking on Glastonbury, bringing their event turned EP, CLUB HEAT, to the Lonely Hearts Club Stage on Friday, June 28.
Below, the duo talk to PAPER — from Tove’s living room and SG’s (AKA Sam Lewis) train in Tokyo — about their latest collab, and how HEAT came to be.
Let's talk about the CLUB HEAT party you threw at Electrowerks in London last month. What was that experience like?
SG: Basically, for us, the whole EP is a celebration of the LGBTQ community that we both wanted to share. We feel that we really wanted to live and experience it and celebrate community above all else. Also, it's really a good way to have a party. Combining those two intentions together we also thought this would be the perfect opportunity.
Tove: Me and Sam share a lot of fans in the queer community. For us, this is for them and all about the songs that make you feel free and sweaty and sexy in a club together. We wanted the video and the first party to all be one night and reflect that. That's basically what we did. We had the amazing director, David Wilson, shoot this whole night in one shot and it was quite chaotic, but I'm impressive that they pulled it off the way that they did because it was quite the challenge. Sam would just be DJing and I would jump up whenever we do one of my tracks. I've been on a bit of a tour break since I finished the Dirt Femme tour last year and I can tell I'm missing the stage. I was just like, "Let me up there and just do this!" It was so fun.
What was it like to bring these songs to your audience? How would you describe that energetic exchange that night?
Tove: It was small and sweaty. All of our core fans were there and really bringing it. It was raw. Shirts were off.
SG: It was interesting to see how the audience reacted. I think we had different expectations of which songs they would react to in certain ways and so it was really interesting to see that in real-time and see what songs people really latched on to immediately. It has been a really exciting experience for us. In our own spare time in our friendship circle, we're always DJing together in different places. So, for the [Club Heat] tour, we knew would be really fun for Tove to DJ and not just take on the role of singing and being a pop star which she is so good at.
Tove: I was a bit nervous going B2B with you officially for the first time. Because we have done a lot of after parties together and we both spend a lot of time in LA and go out but we usually reconvene somewhere at 4AM. So, I wanted to make sure I brought really good tracks and that I was prepared. But, it was super fun and easy. You did save my ass a few times I noticed ... but I've gotten good at it.
SG: Honestly, I think a lot of people were surprised about how good she is. It's really rare to have great song selection. So, I think it's a good skill for her to showcase outside of writing and singing.
Let's dig into your relationship as collaborators. How did it first happen?
Tove: You were at my house before I even met you. I remember that.
SG: I went to a Phoebe Bridgers concert where Matty Healy was doing the warm-up — because The 1975 had a show [service drops].
Tove: I can fill in from what I know. Sam met my husband Charlie at a Phoebe Bridgers concert. They ended up having an after party but I don't think that Sam knew that Charlie was my husband. And me and [SG] already had sessions planned to work together. But then they get to my house which is very pink and has my records proudly showcased and he's like, "Wait is this Tove's house?"
SG: It's funny cause me and Charlie struck up a fast friendship and I was like, "Who is this guy?" So by the time we got to the session I had this added pressure of "This has to go well!" And every single session we've had since, we've come up with something great.
Tove: Me and Sam work with so many different people and write with so many people. I'm in the process of writing for other projects at the moment and throwing my net wide to see if there are any other collaborators I want to work with on the project and it can go either way. It usually takes a few sessions to get comfortable but with SG it was so instant. It was easy to throw out an idea. It didn't have to be perfect. We could work on it together. We could give each other feedback. Those people are rare. So you hold on when you find that. I know that we're always going to work together, be together, because it's such a good collaboration. So I hope you feel the same but I'm not letting you go!
Photography: Nikola Lamburov
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