Cycles (Tove Lo song)

Last updated

"Cycles"
Promotional single by Tove Lo
from the album Blue Lips
Released4 December 2018 (2018-12-04)
FormatDigital download
Length3:28
Label Republic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) The Struts

"Cycles" (stylized as "cycles" on the tracklist) is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo, from her third studio album, Blue Lips . It was released on 17 November 2017 as a promotional single. It was written by Tove Lo, Joe Janiak, Ludvig Söderberg and produced by The Struts. Lyrically, it talks about being trapped in a never-ending relationship loop. A music video directed by Malia James was released on 4 December 2018.

Tove Lo Swedish singer and songwriter

Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson, known professionally as Tove Lo, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Called "Sweden's darkest pop export" by Rolling Stone, she is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take on pop music. Her honest, complex and autobiographical lyrical content has led to her being dubbed "the saddest girl in Sweden".

<i>Blue Lips</i> 2017 studio album by Tove Lo

Blue Lips is the third studio album by Swedish singer Tove Lo. It was released on 17 November 2017 by Island Records. Blue Lips is considered the second half of a two-piece concept album that describe "highs, lows and ultimate demise of a relationship." Its chapters "Light Beams" and "Pitch Black" succeed the chapters "Fairy Dust" and "Fire Fade" from her previous album Lady Wood (2016).

Joseph Janiak, also known simply as Joe Janiak, is a multi-platinum selling British singer/songwriter and record producer based in Los Angeles, United States. He is mostly known for being a songwriter for the likes of Ellie Goulding, Tove Lo, Snakehips, Britney Spears, Take That, and Adam Lambert. His most known appearance, as both songwriter and producer, was on the multi million selling 2017 hit single "Don't Leave" by Snakehips and MØ.

Contents

Composition

"Cycles" is a three-minute, twenty-eight-second song, written by Tove Lo, Joe Janiak, Ludvig Söderberg and produced by The Sturts. Written in the key of G major, "Cycles" has a tempo of 105 beats per minute. [1] Lyrically, the song is about being trapped in a never-ending relationship loop, indicated by the lines: "How can I change it when I don't know when I'm in it?/ I'm in a cycle/ Swear this is different/ Don't wanna end it/ If you leave then I keep spinnin'". According to Xavier Piedra from Billboard she "sings in the chorus while she holds her head in frustration." [2]

In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a music composition in classical, Western art, and Western pop music.

G major musical key

G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F♯. Its key signature has one sharp, F♯. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor.

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

Critical reception

Alim Kheraj of DIY Magazine said that "its baby−cry production, is dripping with self−deprecation." [3] Danny Madion of The Michigan Daily wrote that the song "walks listeners through a narrative of falling in love with an ex-lover. It's sad and earnest but doesn't lead to a notable chorus you’d sing in the car." [4] Sorcha Hornett of Redbrick compared the song to "Issues" by Julia Michaels. [5] Alex Clarke of The Observer described "Cycles" and "Stranger" as "honest depictions of love that are nothing in the way of cliché." [6]

<i>DIY</i> (magazine)

DIY is a United Kingdom-based music publication, in print and online. Its free print edition is released monthly with a physical circulation of 40,000 in UK venues, clubs and shops.

<i>The Michigan Daily</i> newspaper in Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Michigan Daily is the daily student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other student groups, but shares a university building with other student publications on 420 Maynard Street, north of the Michigan Union and Huetwell Student Activities Center. In 2007, renovations to the historic building at 420 Maynard were completed, funded entirely by private donations from alumni. To dedicate the renovated building, a reunion of the staffs of The Michigan Daily, the Michiganensian yearbook, and the Gargoyle humor magazine was held on October 26–28, 2007.

<i>Redbrick</i> (newspaper)

Redbrick is the student newspaper of the University of Birmingham. Originally titled Guild News, the newspaper was renamed Redbrick in 1962. As with most student newspapers Redbrick is not fully independent due to funding arrangements, but is editorially independent as is set out in its charter.

Music video

The music video for "Cycles" was directed by Malia James and it was released on 4 December 2018 on her Vevo channel. It was filmed as a one-shot and it was initially previewed in her short film Blue Lips in the post-credits scene where she spins around in a chair while the camera circles around her in blurry motion. While lights are flashing all over her body. [2] [7]

Vevo is an American multinational video hosting service founded on December 8, 2009, as a joint venture among three major record companies: Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and EMI. In August 2016, Warner Music Group (WMG), the third-largest record company, agreed to license premium videos from its artists onto Vevo.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. [8]

Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations, to generate sounds of musical instruments. Programming is used in most electronic music since the 1980s. It is also frequently used in "modern" pop and rock music from various regions of the world, and sometimes in jazz and contemporary classical music.

Chris Gehringer

Chris Gehringer is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings including Rihanna's Loud, Lady Gaga’s Born this Way and Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines.

A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distribution, whether by physical media such as a CD, vinyl record, or as some method of streaming audio.

Charts

Chart (2017)Peak
position
Sweden (Veckolista Heatseeker) [9] 7

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References

  1. ↑ "Key and BPM for Cycles by Tove Lo". Song Key BPM. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 Piedra, Xavier (4 December 2018). "Tove Lo Spins Around in Neon Circles for 'Cycles' Music Video: Watch". Billboard . Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  3. ↑ Kheraj, Alim (17 November 2017). "Tove Lo: Blue Lips Album Review". DIY . Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  4. ↑ Madion, Danny (21 November 2017). "Tove Lo turns to a sadder brand of pop on 'Blue Lips'". The Michigan Daily . Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Hornett, Sorcha (25 November 2017). "Album Review: Tove Lo – Blue Lips (Lady Wood Phase II)". Redbrick . Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Clarke, Alex (30 November 2017). "Head to toe Tove Lo". The Observer . Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Wass, Mike (4 December 2018). "Visual Queen! Tove Lo Drops Dizzying 'Cycles' Video". Idolator . Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  8. ↑ "Tove Lo / BLUE LIPS ([lady wood phase II]) TIDAL". Tidal. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Veckolista Heatseeker – Vecka 47, 24 november 2017" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved 8 January 2018.
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