If you’ve only heard of MØ as the voice of Major Lazer’s ubiquitous chart hit ‘Lean On’ then it might come as a surprise to discover that she’s actually quite a star in certain corners. With her debut album, No Mythologies To Follow achieving Gold status in her native Denmark, the 27-year-old singer has courted acclaim across blogs and style mags. But dig a little closer and the surprise is actually that she isn’t a bigger star: with a voice that’s pitched somewhere between Lykke Li and Lana Del Rey, music that draws on R&B, pop and club music, and her unique urban-sportswear punk aesthetic, she’s got plenty in common with cult outsider-pop favourites such as Robyn and Charli XCX.
‘Kamikaze’ marks the third time MØ has worked with controversial super-producer Diplo and it might be their best work together so far. Her voice wrestles with an Eastern melody, bouncing across sturdy kicks and a slinky bassline, effortlessly owning the production through her charismatic energy and expressive hollers. It’s a deceptively dark song – while on the surface it’s sun-speckled pop, the lyrics of ‘Kamikaze’ outline the pleasures of self-destructive hedonism. “I ain’t ever gonna get enough” is a strong hook, deliberately ambiguous in simultaneously being a promise, an opportunity and a threat.
