“Celebratory and horny”: Tove Lo and SG Lewis’ new EP is for the queers

The duo speak exclusively with GAY TIMES about their first collaborative EP HEAT, a four-track collection of “celebratory and horny” dance anthems for sweaty rainbow people.

WORDS BY SAM DAMSHENAS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY NIKOLA LAMBUROV
HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN

“We’re bad influences on each other,” dildo pop star Tove Lo says of her friendship and creative partnership with British musician SG Lewis. After collaborating on ‘Call On Me’ and ‘Pineapple Slice’ for the Swedish monarch’s fifth album Dirt Femme, the duo are serving some much-needed hijinks of the hedonistic and horny variety with their euphoric first EP, Heat.

In the video for the lead single of the same name, a diverse club of semi-nude rainbow people gyrate upon one another, lick sweat off each other’s bodies and pay homage to the 2013 blockbuster Terrific Rim (the title might need fact-checking) by, well, doing just that. Meanwhile, Tove sings into a dildo (she knows what the queers want) and SG Lewis realises that straight spaces “suck in comparison”. Pride Month might’ve peaked here, to be honest.

An interview with SG Lewis sharing some not-so-controversial opinions on straight clubs, Tove explaining why her dildo line is, well, non existent (!) and both stars celebrating their love for the LGBTQIA+ community awaits. Read below, and stream HEAT now.

GT: Tove, SG, I’m in my pure and virginal era at the moment, but listening to this EP, I just want to get sweaty and fucking disgusting?

SG: That’s exactly what we wanted it to do.

Tove: Yeah, we’re giving you bad advice here.

SG: It’s summertime!

GT: If the club doesn’t have dildos and rimming, I’m out of there.

SG: It’s a bit of a requirement.

GT: You’ve both collaborated on massive bangers, most recently ‘Love Bites’ with the legendary Nelly Furtado. Can you tell me how this incredible friendship and partnership came to be?

Tove: I think it started with my husband.

SG: Yes it did. We’ve been trying to unpack the details over the last few days, but basically long story short, I was stood next to this lovely, tall Kiwi man at a Phoebe Bridgers gig. We end up at an afterparty at his house, where there’s a lot of Tove Lo memorabilia on the wall. I’m like, ‘This is strange, this man really loves Tove Lo!’ Then at one point he was like, ‘I think you’re working with my wife next week.’ I was like, ‘What is he on about?’ and he said, ‘Tove Lo’. Charlie said we’d love each other, so there was a bit too much pressure on it. We were like, ‘God, if this goes bad, it would be so awkward.’

Tove: ‘What if we don’t click? What if we don’t make a good song?’ And then the first session we made ‘Call On Me’, so it was an instant like, ‘Oh, we need to make more music together’.

SG: It worked out.

Tove: I was confident we would get along as people, but then making great music… that’s not an obvious thing. You could really like each other, respect each other’s talents, but not click creatively. Once you find that, if you can tix all these boxes it’s, ‘I’m not letting go, we’re making more!’

SG: It’s that rare sort of studio chemistry. It’s just so much fun making music with Tove.

GT: So the the calmness and wholesomeness of a Phoebe Bridgers gig led to the sweaty hedonism of HEAT? Love it.

SG: The night started in this very calm, wholesome place, and progressed to become slightly less wholesome. Is it my fault? Probably. Am I the problem? Yes.

Tove: Yes. No, I’m kidding.

SG: I’m a bad influence!

Tove: We’re equally bad influences on each other. Why I love working with Sam so much is that I can be really vulnerable, and show any idea that comes to mind. But, I still really want to impress him! When I’m writing with you, I really respect you and think you’re great, but I feel comfortable doing whatever; testing weird shit out. We can just throw shit on the wall and see what sticks, and be very free. That’s a rare combination.

Tove: Anything I make, if it’s half decent, I know Tove is going to come back with something better. I constantly feel like I’m having to raise my game, and that back and forth creates a fun energy in the room.

GT: This EP was obviously made with a lot of faggotry behind it…

Tove: You’re right.

GT: Each song is a queer dance banger. The video for ‘Heat’, filmed at the iconic LGBTQIA+ venue Electrowerkz, features rimming and dildos, and it’s better than most… erotic content I’ve watched, let’s say that. There’s rainbow all over this EP. It’s essentially a tribute to the community and queer nightlife, right?

Tove: Yeah. When we were making ‘Pineapple Slice’ and ‘Call On Me’, we realised we share a lot of fans. Most of the fans are queer and they were coming at us like, ‘We need more! Give us more to dance to!’ After doing our individual album campaigns, we missed being in the studio together so we kept writing. And we kept making these songs that felt perfect for [queer] fans.

SG: The EP wouldn’t exist without that shared queer audience. It’s a thank you and an ode to them. So then it made sense in the creative and visuals to amplify that community. Working with David Wilson on the videos, we really wanted to work with a queer director who we could give free-reign creatively to just go the full distance. We wanted to create a video that was uncensored and to be as celebratory and horny as it should be. We had so much fun shooting these videos.

Tove: It was such a fun day.

SG: It was crazy…

Tove: We also didn’t want [the queer people in the video] to have to cover their nipples, do this, do that, hide that. The whole point of this is that they can be free. The younger audience will have to wait until they’re old enough [to watch the ‘Heat’ video]. We thought, ‘Let’s make it 18+ so everyone can be themselves.’ I’m really happy with it, because it made it so fun and sexy.

GT: Tove, why don’t you have your own line of dildos yet? What the fuck is going on?

Tove: I know! I feel that I’ve really let you down.

GT: You absolutely have, yeah.

Tove: I’m so sorry.

SG: It feels like a great goal, on a business level.

Tove: I know, I know. We should have done it for this, honestly.

SG: Yeah, I want in on this business.

GT: Honestly, you could create a line of dildos that, yes, could be used for pleasure, but also for…. art? I would 100 per cent buy a Tove Lo dildo to use as a chic ornament.

Tove: Yeah, that’s kind of my thought. I want it to be an art piece as well.

SG: An artistic dildo.

GT: The video for ‘Heat’ actually feels quite reflective of queer club culture. There’s not just one body or skin type. I assume that was important for you both?

Tove: Absolutely. I want to give David Wilson a lot of credit there too, because we said all the things we wanted but then it was very much [us saying], ‘Bring your community to this video. We trust you and like you. This is as much yours as it is ours.’ It was important to him to invite all people of shapes and sizes and styles. And I think you really feel that. The video is sexy and edgy, but also very warm. You can feel the happiness in the room. I will say, the energy too, it was mainly a queer crew and cast. I’ve done a lot of sexual videos and I’m quite comfortable in uncomfortable situations. But, I’ve never been this comfortable and at ease. When we were waiting to shoot, I did a full lip-sync of ‘Disco Tits’ and I was laying with my legs spread. It was so fun!

SG: There was a real sense of community. It was a lot of people that know each other, and that gave such a beautiful atmosphere to the video, and an authentic one. As someone who is a guest in these spaces, and is so fortunate to partake in these celebrations and provide the soundtrack for it, it was amazing to get the opportunity to give this platform to David to create this celebration of queer nightlife, with representation across the board.

Tove: One thing I loved that was a genius idea was – I don’t want to hate on straight people – not to have some dude being like, ‘Reset! Everybody back to one’. While we were shooting, it was this amazing MC who does ballrooms and drag shows, who was giving such energy and vibes every time we had to reset or put more oil on. It felt like a party, and I forgot that we were shooting.

SG: It was very sweaty.

Tove: Very sweaty, but that was what it was supposed to be.

GT: Tove, you said ‘Busy Girl’ is inspired by badass women and drag queens. So is that what we can expect from the video?

Tove: Yes, there will be an incredible performance in that one.

SG: It’s funny, the ‘Heat’ video isn’t even the most explicit.

Tove: It’s not. There’s going to be a lot of, erm…

SG: Saliva.

Tove: Sweat and saliva with a great performance, then this tender, beautiful moment at the end.

SG: Yeah, there’s a wholesome moment.

GT: Sam, how can you possibly go back to heterosexual spaces after this?

SG: It’s honestly massively disappointing.

GT: Yeah.

SG: Like I said, I’m extremely lucky and privileged to get to share these spaces through the music I make. With the queer community, I share an obsession with pop music. I love pop music in the clubs, specifically. I’m going to be honest, straight parties suck in comparison. There’s a certain freedom of expression in queer nightlife that I am fortunate enough to witness. There’s an added element to queer parties that simply cannot exist at a straight party. So, it’s always going to be a step down when you return to it.

Tove: At queer parties there’s a lot of straight people too, who are accepting of the culture, love and respect that space. But the places where it’s like the ‘bro’ energy, you feel maybe not as welcome as a queer person. That energy still exists on some dance floors, like bottle service clubs. I fucking hate bottle service clubs. That feels like a very straight thing to me.

SG: No, it is. There’s definitely an association between those two things.

Tove: And everyone’s doing like ADHD DJ-ing, where they mix after 10 seconds, move on to the next song and it’s really aggressive and crazy.

SG: There’s a specific lack of horny energy at that kind of party.

Tove: It’s like a flat horniness. Everyone knows they’re not getting any, so they’re just sad.

SG: There’s nothing sexy about that.

GT: I used to work for a very straight club. Sam I feel like you would know it, Oceana?

SG: Yeah, from when I was 16 with my fake ID!

GT: It’s the kind of place where you see straight men deploy the finger blasters…

SG: It’s a good sign you need to leave. You need to move from the hips. If there’s no hip movement, you need to go.

Tove: So true.

GT: You’re about to take HEAT to Glastonbury, right?

SG: Yes, we’ve done one Club Heat so far and it’s such a chaotic, sweaty, party vibe. We’re both really excited to see how that translates to, you know, a farm in Somerset.

GT: Because, surely, it won’t be heteronormative in the slightest?

Tove: No!

SG: The thing about Glastonbury is, it has one of the most…

Tove: There’s something for everyone.

SG: It has the most amazing queer nightclubs I’ve ever been to, like NYC Downlow. So, we know that energy is on the farm. I feel really hopeful that that energy will arrive at Club Heat for the time we’re there.

Tove: Me too, it’s going to be great.

GT: You should reenact the ‘Heat’ music video on stage. I feel like that’s what the world needs?

SG: Yeah, a couple dildos in hand.

Tove: It’s a bit of a quick turnaround to launch a dildo line for Glastonbury, otherwise we’d just throw them out…

GT: Don’t do that. “Staring is free” but the dildos shouldn’t be, make some money!

Tove: Okay, fair enough. You’re right. Thank you, Sam. I’m bad with money.

GT: Could this EP lead to a full-blown album one day? Please?

Tove: I mean, who knows? We’re definitely going to keep working together.

SG: Yes, there’s always going to be more music between us. Whether that comes in the form of a record, song, each other’s albums…

Tove: Other artists…

SG: There’s always going to be more music between us.

Tove: Definitely.

GT: That’s a bad idea. There’s no chemistry here whatsoever.

Tove: Yeah, you can tell we can’t stand each other.

Tove Lo and SG Lewis’ first collaborative project, HEAT, is out now. 

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