MØ has one of the most identifiable voices on the planet. It has both a clarity and a huskiness to it; it’s vigorous, illustrating a belt-worthy quality even when the Danish singer isn’t straining her vocal chords; it also has a rawness, that it might crumble like a wafer when she reaches quiet registers. The same versatility applies to her star status—both a somewhat underground or underrated pop star and one that mingles among mainstream chart climbers. But MØ’s last release was 2019’s “On & On,” which followed her 2018 sophomore album Forever Neverland. Today, the dance music aficionado returns with a new single ready to rival Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”
“Live to Survive” was written with Caroline Ailin and Sly, and produced with SG Lewis. Opening with sparse piano chords, MØ sings about inaccessible solace. “I reached for peace I couldn’t get / ‘Cause somebody said it would be there,” she sings. Soon after, the track transitions into a resolute vow. “I live to survive another heartache,” goes the chorus.
The new single comes with a fiery video directed by Joanna Nordahl that features the Globe of Death, where motorcyclists duel or dance (depending how you look at it) in a sphere cage. MØ wears a leather jacket with the name Ophelia bedazzled on the back. Later, she’s laying on mossy ground, clutching flowers similar to the stunning Sir John Everett Millais painting.
Watch it below.
