Tove Lo’s new music video is giving us all those doomed love feels
Swedish pop princess Tove Lo made the breakup anthem of a generation with “Habits (Stay High),” the song that sounded and felt like a lonely late night. Her debut album, Queen of the Clouds, proved that she wasn’t a one-hit wonder: Tunes like “Got Love,” “Not on Drugs,” and second single “Talking Body” all perfectly marry huge pop hooks with straightforward but cutting lyrics. For her next single, she went with the biggest song on the album, the rolling, roiling, “Timebomb,” and she put together a killer music video for the song to boot.
The album Queen of the Clouds is split into three parts — The Sex, The Love, and The Pain — and the album’s songs all reflect the part to which they belong. “Timebomb” is the fitting closer for The Sex section, with lyrics acknowledging the reality of fleeting attraction: “we’re not forever / you’re not the one.”
The song is itself one of the more untraditional on the album, with semi-spoken verses that coalesce into an explosive chorus. But its sentiment is both sweet and doomed — two strangers crossing paths at one point, forever to diverge from there.
The music video reinforces that idea, as couples of all ages, demographics, and orientations move around and with each other in mock fights and reconciliations. Tove herself lays her emotions (and her body) bare, and eventually joins the merry-go-round of troubled lovers. The simple visuals of flowing white clothes on the beach evoke feelings of unity and purity; set against the failed romance of the song, they’re a bittersweet example of the classic idea of lovers by the sea, or rather, “long walks on the beach.” It’s a cliché statement turned into a critique on modern love, aka what Tove Lo is best at doing.
The running for summer jam 2k15 is still wide open, but “Timebomb” is an amazing contender for the title. And if nothing else, its video cements Tove Lo’s status as the heartbreak torch carrier du jour, and also showcases her amazing hair (does she plop it?). Now, time to grab some tissues and rewatch the video to our heart’s delight.
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