Watch-for-it Wednesday: "Habits (Stay High)" - Tove Lo

Sometimes, believe it or not, there's a dark side to the "party hard" lifestyle. Sometimes it's not just something fun you do. Sometimes it's an escape from the real world. Here to illustrate that point is a new artist named Tove Lo.

This is... a slightly disturbing song, and I think I like it. A lot.

It's great to see an artist showing another side to a common theme in music; that is, partying and doing so with high frequency. It's almost a bluesy party song.

It doesn't make me nervous
If anything I'm restless
Yeah, I've been around and I've seen it all

Right off the bat, this is not a happy song. She's not excited to be living her life this way; she's "seen it all".

I get home, I got the munchies
Binge on all my Twinkies

Now "binge" is a word with a strong negative connotation that you definitely don't hear in many party-themed songs. And as we get to the chorus, it's apparent why she still chooses to act this way, despite feeling nothing inside:

You're gone and I gotta stay high all the time
To keep you off my mind

Wow.

That's what I like about this song: it's different, it's fresh, it's new. We had quite a few hits last year that criticized modern themes in pop music, or turned those themes around in some way, but this is the first one that I think is going that extra mile this year.

She's not getting high because "fuck everything, let's get high". She's getting high because it's the only way she can cope with her broken heart. That right there is some powerful stuff. And it plays out immaculately, almost sounding like a legitimate party song at parts but then sounding flat-out depressing at other parts. Excellent song, and I hope to hear more from Tove Lo.

Hot 100 Success:

Will she have it?

Unfortunately, I think that Tove Lo's song jumped on the train of twisting modern themes a little too late. I don't know if people are ready to embrace another anti-party song.

Should she have it?

This is probably the most intelligent song I've heard so far this year, including Lorde, who sounds just a little too one-note for my tastes. Tove Lo needs to bring some of this party music back down to Earth.