Image credit: Fredrik Etoal

Pop phenomenon Agnes shares the energetic track, ‘Love And Appreciation’, taken from her recently released highly anticipated album Magic Still Exists on 22nd October via Universal Music Sweden. On the LP, listeners will find the previously released single ‘Here Comes The Night’ as well as several other phenomenal hits. After nearly a decade since her last album, Agnes has been reborn and her birth planet is disco. Her delicious new magical world consists of 11 tracks, instantly taking us to a land forgotten due to realities today.

Based in Stockholm, Agnes began her lucrative career at the early age of 16, when she was catapulted into fame as a result of her incredible talent. The following years involved world tours as well as three highly successful albums, which included her major global dancefloor hit ‘Release Me’ that topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Songs and reached the Top Ten in charts worldwide and sold over 900,000 copies in the UK alone. Across streaming platforms, Agnes has earned just under 400 million plays with support from publications such as Billboard, The Guardian, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, The Line Of Best Fit, DJ Mag, SPIN, YourEDM, Dancing Astronaut, Rolling Stone India, Flaunt Magazine, Yahoo News and This Song Is Sick amongst others. 

What’s your story as an artist? 

My story as an artist has been a journey: I started making music when I was 16. I became very famous overnight and it was a lot to deal with as a teenager. After 10 years, when I was 26, I had been doing a lot and many of my dreams had come true but I felt empty. I took some time off from music and the music business to have time for myself: to grow as an artist but also as a human. My latest album, “Magic Still Exists” is about that journey. It’s about coming back to the core of something but also about questioning myself and the picture I have of myself. I believe it’s so easy to put yourself in a box and I wanted to just break that box and fly a little higher. 

What inspired this single?

“Here Comes The Night” is about the search for something more, something bigger and finding meaning but also to find a little peace of mind.  “Is There Anybody Out There?” Feeling like I do, can we be in love together, can we be lost together? 

What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?

I’ve been very inspired by Hilma Of Klint. Her art is outstanding but also what inspires me the most is the way she created her art. Herself and a group of 4 women called themselves “The Five” and have ceremonies where they meditate together and in those meditations they have visions. The visions then became the art. Reading about her opened up so many doors for me about art and how to create. I’m also very inspired by Sun Ra, who not only created music but a world where he invited in people. I love that and that’s what I want to do. Inspirations can come from everywhere and I see it as an artist’s “job” to have a wide perspective on things and to melt everything together in your personal art. 

Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing the album?

For the last song on the album “Magic Still Exists”, we did full live takes. So it was me singing and Salem Al Fakir playing the piano. While recording the song, we were nervous. As nervous as when you go on TV live because we knew if we fucked it up, we had to go back all the way from the top and have a new take and the song is looooong. So we were dead serious while recording that song, hahaha. 

Tell us about the music video and the idea behind it?

The music video for “24 hours” is inspired by the idea of getting out of a bad relationship or a bad situation: how you can go through so many stages and feelings. One side of you is the bitch telling him/her to just fuck off and the other side is the sad one and so on. We wanted to visualise all those stages that you go through while walking through the fire. 

What’s a record that shaped your creativity?

I love Solange’s album “When I get home”. I also love Minnie Riperton’s album “Welcome To My Garden”. There is also Robyn’s Body Talk and Róisín Murphy´s latest album from 2020. All of them are sooo inspiring to me. 

Who is an artist or band you look up to today?

All of the above plus a lot more… Sylvester, Abba, Kanye West, Sebastian Tellier, Tame Impala and so on. 

Any future projects?

Now the plan is to go on a tour. So in my head, I am there: planning how, when and where.  

Top 3 dream collaborations?

Harry Styles, Róisín Murphy and Daft punk (even though they are not a band anymore:( )

What does music mean to you?

Music is the way I connect to more people than my family and my friends. Music is what gives my life meaning. 

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Spiritual disco.