Playing it Cool: How Tove Lo Aims High

EPISODE #49

On the surface, Tove Lo’s new hit “Cool Girl” boasts a snappy, earworm chorus and an empowering message of self-reliance. Beneath its chill exterior, though, Lo’s song burns with a passion bordering on rage, and sinister sonic undertones suggest an unreliable narrator who doesn’t always mean what she says. The more layers one pulls back from this song, the more Lo’s source material—the novel and film “Gone Girl”—comes to the fore, turning “Cool Girl” into the kind of pop smash that sticks in your head in more ways than one.

SONGS DISCUSSED

Tove Lo – Cool Girl

Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster

Alessia Cara – Scars To Your Beautiful