Lykke Li is one of our favorite artists to emerge during the last decade. Her first two albums, Youth Novels (2008) and Wounded Rhymes (2011), were instant classics that combined haunting, slow burning ballads with some truly fierce and wholly catchy up-tempo tunes that established her as one of contemporary pop’s best songwriters. She’s recently stated that her new album, I Never Learn, is an album of power ballads and the third part of a trilogy that started with Youth Novels. The album will be released via her own label, LL, and Atlantic on May 6 in North America and May 5 internationally. She co-produced the record with Björn Yttling (of Peter Björn and John) and Greg Kurstin.
We’re not sure we’d consider “Love Me Like I’m Not Made Of Stone” a power ballad, being that it completely lacks percussion, but we certainly would agree with her about it being a slow burner. To that end, it begins by slowly entering your mind — like a drug that takes a short while to begin working — and then it suddenly spreads like wax melting off of a candle, gradually accumulating at the base of the candle holder. Or, in this case, your medulla. Put another way, it’s like sweet honey dripping off of your spoon, gradually working its way into your teacup. It sure takes its time getting there, but once it’s there, it’s delightful.
The video was directed by Tarik Saleh and it’s an extreme close up on Lykke Li’s visage, looking rather despondent, like her heart has just been broken after learning that her lover has been secretly carrying on an affair the entire time they’ve been together after walking in on him and said lover going at it. She doesn’t even sing the song in the video. It simply shows her face, looking sad and hopeless, with a slight breeze occasionally blowing through her hair. It’s not a video you’re likely to watch multiple times, but it more than effectively conveys the sorrowful emotion of the song, truly making you feel her despair in a way that few songs and videos ever do.
You can read the lyrics to “Love Me Like I’m Not Made Of Stone” here.
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