Pop singer Zara Larsson’s first big break came when she was ten years old, and won a televised talent competition in her native Sweden.
Her second big break came a few months ago, when her new collaboration with Marshmello, “Wow,” became the centerpiece of a high profile Citibank ad campaign. In between, Larsson dropped her international debut (“So Good,” in 2017), and a handful of buzzy singles (“Lush Life,” “Don’t Worry Bout Me”).
Becoming a pop star can be rough going, especially in the fiercely competitive Swedish division, but “Wow” may help Larsson become as famous in America as she is everywhere else. Her ongoing tour (which reaches House of Blues Monday) will be her first North American headlining stint, and later this year she will open stadium shows for Ed Sheeran in Europe.
In a recent phone interview, she talked about working (or not) with Ariana Grande, her outspoken social media presence, and her new, as-yet-untitled album, tentatively due this summer.
The following are excerpts from that conversation:
She’s been in the recording studio with Ariana Grande recently, but the specific hierarchy of famous people makes things complicated.
It’s not like we’re writing — we’re just friends. We have so many amazing friends in common, so when she’s in the studio, we’re just chilling. We hang, and we have a good time. We’ve just been hanging out a couple of times, she’s not one of my closest people, you know? When you’re in a session, it’s, “Should I ask her to join in?” I know she’s super duper shy, so even if she wanted to, she’d probably not say it because she would feel like she was intruding. But then it’s like, would I be intruding? I don’t know. She’s a super cool person. Obviously, I would be so down-so, so, so down-for a song with her, but who wouldn’t? I don’t think we’ll have something coming out soon, anyways.
She and Grande both use social media to develop deep bonds with their fanbase
She’s really cool in that way of — I say this with so much love — she kinda doesn’t have everything figured out, you know what I mean? She’s figuring life out, and music, and everything in general, because you can’t plan life. No matter how hard you try, it doesn’t work. Something’s gonna happen. I think it’s really quite beautiful how she takes her fans on that journey, so they grow with her, and that creates a special bond with the listener. You feel really close to her, like you’re a part of the whole journey. I really admire that. Me and my followers, I feel like we always crack jokes. They roast me. They know what I go through, I know a lot about them. We’re like pals, we’re friends.
She tries not to censor herself online
To me, it’s so not radical just to have common sense. But some people don’t have common sense, and they get so mad at the things that I post. It usually has to do with feminism, or maybe I’ll say, “I hate Donald Trump,” but come on, that to me is not a shocker. You know how you live in a little bubble in your timeline? You want to follow people who are similar to you. I don’t feel like I’m that outspoken, I’m just being myself, and if I have something on my mind that I want to share, I’ll definitely share it. Whenever people post a mean comment or degrading stuff, I always try to tell myself, “I’m reading this, and I will be so upset, and I’ll think about it for the rest of the day. But the person on the other side probably posted their mean comment and went on with their day.”
She wept when she met Beyonce, like anyone would
I laid on the floor. I was completely embarrassing myself. I was so surprised I could actually say words. She was so nice. If I didn’t love her before, I would love her after that. She was so humble, she was so sweet, she was listening to me. I just became an even bigger fan, if that’s possible.
She realized from a young age that she wanted to be famous
I would say when I was little, “I want to be bigger than Elvis Presley.” I knew he was a big deal. I have no idea where that comes from — I want a lot of attention from a lot of people. Maybe it could be Freudian, like, my parents didn’t give me attention when I was growing up. Except they really did.
Making her last album was complicated: An early version was scrapped, and she had to record it all over again. Making this new one is harder.
The second project is the hardest, because you have so many expectations, not only on yourself, but from other people. You just want to make it better, right? You want your last project to be your best. It does put a bit of pressure on me, which is good. You should feel pressure. I feel like it’s my baby, and I want it to be perfect. So far, I feel great about the songs, but I also change my mind five million times a day.
Allison Stewart is a freelance writer.
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When: 7:30 p.m. Monday
Where: House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St.
Tickets: $25; 800-745-3000 or www.Ticketmaster.com
