{"id":31416,"date":"2021-08-06T12:25:41","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T12:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=31416"},"modified":"2021-08-06T12:31:08","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T12:31:08","slug":"zara-larsson-poster-perfect","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/zara-larsson-poster-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Zara Larsson: Poster Perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Zara
ZARA LARSSON, PHOTOGRAPHED BY BAILEY REBECCA ROBERTS AND STYLED BY RYAN YOUNG. HERM\u00c8S SHIRT, $1,175, HERMES.COM;<\/a> EMILIO PUCCI CULOTTE, PRICE UPON REQUEST, EMILIOPUCCI.COM<\/a>; ALEXANDRE BIRMAN SANDALS, $395, ALEXANDREBIRMAN.COM<\/a>; EARRING, HER OWN.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BY JOHN RUSSELL<\/strong>
\nPHOTOGRAPHER BAILEY REBECCA ROBERTS
\n<\/strong>PHOTO ASSISTANTS KAITLIN TUCKER AND EMILE ASKEY
\n<\/strong>STYLIST RYAN YOUNG
\n<\/strong>FASHION ASSISTANT LJ PEREZ
\n<\/strong>HAIR SIRSA<\/strong>
\nMAKEUP COLBY SMITH
\n<\/strong>MANICURE NORI<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Zara
LOUIS VUITTON BIKINI TOP, $450, BIKINI BOTTOM, $405, PANTS, $1,950, LOUISVUITTON.COM;<\/a> JENNIFER FISHER EARRINGS, $550, JENNIFERFISHERJEWELRY.COM.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zara Larsson is\u2014shall we say\u2014fully embracing the freedom and frivolity of the post-pandemic lifestyle. \u201cYeah, I went out last night and I was not prepared for that,\u201d she says over Zoom from London. \u201cIt was just a regular Tuesday! Like, I don\u2019t go out on Tuesdays<\/i>! But one thing led to another and\u2026\u201d dinner with friends at LPM turned into drinks at Annabel\u2019s and more. \u201cIt was worth it, \u2019cause I had a great night,\u201d she says confidently\u2014if a little hung over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, at 23 years old, Larsson<\/a> is at an age when you bounce back quickly. When she parties hard, she works even harder. Hitting the studio the very next morning, \u201cI wrote a really good song with one of my favorite people,\u201d she reveals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Really, that shouldn\u2019t come as much of a surprise. Larsson\u2019s work ethic is awe-inspiring. Since releasing her debut EP, Introducing<\/i>, in 2013, not a year has gone by in which she didn\u2019t put out new music. We\u2019re not just talking a one-off single here or a guest vocal there; we\u2019re talking multiple songs, many of which have charted internationally, each year since she was 15. Her 2014 debut album, 1<\/i>, went platinum in her native Sweden. Three years later and already a household name in Scandinavia, she made a play for international stardom with her second album, So Good<\/i>. Its first three singles\u2014\u201cLush Life,\u201d \u201cNever Forget You,\u201d and \u201cAin\u2019t My Fault\u201d\u2014all reached No. 1 on the Swedish charts, and the album was certified platinum in the U.S. Time <\/i>included her on its list of the \u201c30 Most Influential Teens of 2016\u201d alongside Simone Biles, Shawn Mendes, and Malala Yousafzai. Back-to-back world tours in support of So Good <\/i>followed, and all the while Larsson continued to churn out new singles, many of which would ultimately end up on her second international release, 2021\u2019s Poster Girl<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zara
OSCAR DE LA RENTA CAFTAN, $3,790, AVAILABLE AT OSCAR DE LA RENTA BOUTIQUES; ALEXANDRE BIRMAN SANDALS, $495, ALEXANDREBIRMAN.COM.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From a very early age, Larsson knew she wanted to be a singer\u2014and she wasn\u2019t going to wait to do it. At just 10 years old, she appeared on Talang<\/i>, Sweden\u2019s version of America\u2019s Got Talent<\/i>. It was the only musical competition show that accepted kids, she says. \u201cI wanted to be on Idol <\/i>and X Factor<\/i>, but you had to be, like, 16. And I was like, I\u2019m not f***ing waiting until I\u2019m 16! I wanna sing now! I want people to see me now!<\/i>\u201d She ended up winning the competition with her rendition of C\u00e9line Dion\u2019s \u201cMy Heart Will Go On.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But while her version of the song became a top-10 single in Sweden, fame didn\u2019t immediately follow. It would be five years before she signed a record deal with Swedish label TEN Music Group. In the meantime, she studied ballet at the Royal Swedish Ballet School, discovering\u2014fairly quickly\u2014that she didn\u2019t want to be a ballerina. \u201cI stayed in school for two more years knowing I didn\u2019t want to dance, because I loved my classmates,\u201d she says. \u201cWe were just like sisters, honestly.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That tight-knit, supportive community of young women instilled in Larsson a nascent feminism\u2014though she wouldn\u2019t have called it that at the time\u2014which later blossomed when she switched to a more diverse, co-ed school and witnessed the casual misogyny displayed by her male classmates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zara
GIORGIO ARMANI DRESS, $3,595, ARMANI.COM;<\/a> SERENDIPITOUS PROJECT EARRINGS, $100, SERENDIPITOUS-PROJECT.COM.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was like, Oh, this is what the real world looks like<\/i>,\u201d she remembers. She began posting about feminism on her personal blog and has been outspoken about her views ever since.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, her career was blossoming with increased crossover into America. In October 2019, Larsson wrapped the third leg of her \u201cDon\u2019t Worry Bout Me Tour\u201d in Atlanta, intending to head back out on the road the following summer. We all know what happened next: The pandemic hit. The summer 2020 tour was canceled, and while life didn\u2019t exactly grind to a halt for Larsson\u2014she released three singles last year and continued to write and record remotely from the home she shares with her sister in Stockholm\u2014things did get a little dark.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I felt a bit lost in the sauce during the whole corona year,\u201d she admits. \u201cI wasn\u2019t performing live, I didn\u2019t really have sessions, and I was like, Do I even like music? What do I want in this? <\/i>I was really lost, and I just felt like, Maybe I don\u2019t wanna do music. Maybe I actually don\u2019t really think it\u2019s fun<\/i>. I was just asking myself all these questions.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zara
CHANEL SKIRT, $4,450, AVAILABLE AT SELECT CHANEL BOUTIQUES NATIONWIDE; HERM\u00c8S SCARF, $335, HERMES.COM;<\/a> MISSOMA EARRINGS, $175, MISSOMA.COM.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Larsson, like so many of us, thinks she might have been just a teensy bit depressed from the lack of social stimulation. That all changed this spring. For starters, she finally released Poster Girl<\/i>, the long-awaited follow-up to So Good<\/i>. But what really shook her out of her funk was performing again. Larsson teamed up with Ikea for a live special that streamed on International Women\u2019s Day, and in April she sang with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra for a live radio broadcast. \u201cI was onstage singing with them. I was like, Nah, I love music<\/i>,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI love to sing. That\u2019s really what it comes down to. I love to sing so much.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Having lived through the long winter of our social disconnect, Larsson is throwing herself into the roaring \u201920s as the world reopens. In May, she re-released Poster Girl <\/i>as an expanded \u201cSummer Edition,\u201d with two previously unreleased tracks, an acoustic version of \u201cI Need Love\u201d featuring Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit, a remix of \u201cRight Here,\u201d and recordings of \u201cRuin My Life\u201d and \u201cNever Forget You\u201d from her performance with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, a touch of the bittersweet remnants of COVID linger. Ordinarily, summer for Larsson would mean playing festivals all over Europe\u2014a part of pre-COVID life that has still not returned. \u201cI think I\u2019ll just do shows in the UK, honestly,\u201d she says with a sigh. \u201cMaybe one in Norway? But it\u2019s very few. It\u2019s not a festival summer.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zara
ETRO SHIRT, $1,660, SIMILAR STYLES AT ETRO.COM;<\/a> MISSOMA BEADED NECKLACE, $180, GEMSTONE NECKLACE, $180, MISSOMA.COM.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Instead, Larsson already has a Scandinavian arena tour scheduled for November and in the meantime, she\u2019s busy writing and recording material for her next album. To confirm for fans: You won\u2019t have to wait another four years, for music, as you did between So Good <\/i>and Poster Girl<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What to expect? Larsson has said in the past that she wants to move with the currents of pop music, but right now, at the very beginning of the writing process, she\u2019s feeling a little experimental. \u201cI\u2019m kinda down for anything,\u201d she reveals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So far, that\u2019s leaning toward a classical vibe. Still inspired by her performance with the symphony, Larsson is very into strings and horns right now and says she wants to add a cinematic quality to her new work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zara
CHRISTOPHER ESBER SWIMSUIT, $426, CHRISTOPHERESBER.COM.AU;<\/a> MIU MIU PANTS, $2,180, MIUMIU.COM;<\/a> SERENDIPITOUS PROJECT NECKLACE, $250, SERENDIPITOUS-PROJECT.COM;<\/a> CHRISTIAN DIOR RING, $430, DIOR.COM.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI say to my friends and producers and writers, I\u2019m like, \u2018Let\u2019s imagine we\u2019re going to Mars. How are we feeling? How are we feeling when we walk to the rocket?\u2019 And it\u2019s, like, pretty dramatic,\u201d she says. Especially post-pandemic, \u201cI want a little drama. I also wanna be able to dance. I want to go to space and leave mankind behind. And it\u2019s quite sad, because you can\u2019t come back, but you\u2019re also quite hopeful because you\u2019re starting a new chapter for humanity. It\u2019s, like, very deep. Also, when we go into space and you\u2019ve left all your friends and family behind, yeah, you\u2019re hopeful, but you\u2019re also going to a place where Drake is at, and he\u2019s gonna have a dance party at this new planet. So that\u2019s the vibe.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still with us? By her own admission, Larsson isn\u2019t always great at articulating \u201cthe music part.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike, producing,\u201d she clarifies. \u201cI\u2019m a really good topliner, I can write words and write melodies. But when it comes to the production all I can say is, \u2018I don\u2019t like that. I don\u2019t know what it is, but it\u2019s something I don\u2019t like. Let\u2019s try something new.\u2019 That\u2019s it.\u201d (Hence, the extended space travel metaphor.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Zara
PROENZA SCHOULER BRA AND DRESS, $1,890, PROENZASCHOULER.COM;<\/a> ALEXANDRE BIRMAN SANDALS, $425, ALEXANDREBIRMAN.COM;<\/a> MISSOMA EARRINGS, $188, MISSOMA.COM.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, she\u2019s eager to learn. During quarantine, Larsson bought a whole in-home studio setup\u2014and then kind of neglected it. \u201cIt\u2019s just sitting there and it\u2019s staring at me and I feel ashamed every time I walk by it, because I feel like, Oh, man, I should know how to do this and I don\u2019t!<\/i>\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard. You gotta be nerdy about it. You gotta sit there for hours and hours and hours. I\u2019m really bad at letting myself develop, and that\u2019s what you have to do when you work on things like production. No one\u2019s good when you first start out. But I like things that I am immediately good at!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing Larsson is unquestionably good at? Entertaining. It\u2019s not just what she does; it\u2019s who she is. \u201cI think deep down, I\u2019m kind of a people pleaser and I want people to have a good time,\u201d she admits. On some level, that\u2019s what pop stardom is all about: the sold-out worldwide stadium tour, thousands of fans singing along, radio ubiquity. Larsson wants it all, and it\u2019s already happening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kinda wild, you know, when you watch videos of people\u2019s weddings and they play one of my songs,\u201d she says. \u201cOr it\u2019s their graduation party. You\u2019re part of people\u2019s lives, even if you don\u2019t know them. And that\u2019s kinda beautiful.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29097,"featured_media":31592,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[],"yoast_head":"\nZara Larsson: Poster Perfect<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a year in hibernation, Swedish pop star Zara Larsson is ready to get her show back on the road. 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