Usually, when you watch contestants on singing competition shows, they either have a very sad (read: marketable) story, are talented but still average, or have the voice, but none of the skill to create unique work on their own. But it seems that not everyone must follow these restrictions—just look to former Swedish Idol contestant Tove Styrke. When her season aired in 2009, Styrke was just 16. She had one of the strongest voices on the show, but, perhaps luckily for her, she didn't win.
After taking a few years out of the spotlight, Styrke decided it was time to come back. She began touring again, releasing the odd single every now and then. After gaining some traction and finally gaining a hold on her sound, she recorded and released Borderline, a confident, boisterous five-track EP. Today, Styrke finally drops her sophomore album, Kiddo, which plays with the concept of friction. It's sure to skyrocket the 22-year-old to the mainstream—not that that's something she's concerned with.
At the moment, she's just playing shows and working on new music. "I just hope to never stop moving," she says. "I don’t think that we should aim to plant a path and just stay on that. I think it’s really important to keep exploring and trying new stuff. You change so much as a person; you have to change creatively as well. And sometimes you’re gonna do things that are really good and sometimes you’re gonna do things that are really bad. And it’s okay."
Listen to Kiddo here and watch her perform "Borderline" live below.
