Never Say Neverland

Never Say Neverland

Nathan Gunn chats with MØ on her latest album, Forever Neverland, and why it took so long to finally see the light of day

Not many 30 year olds can say they’ve toured internationally multiple times. That they’ve released songs with the likes of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, or Charli XCX. But, for this 30-year-old Danish pop wunderkind, this is the case. And she’s as humbled and poised as can be.

Meet Karen Marie Aagaard Ørsted Andersen, more commonly known by her stage name, MØ. An ex-punk singer, and a self-confessed ‘easily distracted’ individual who is killing it in every way possible.

Andersen is currently in the midst of a mammoth Groovin the Moo tour, whilst also leading an Australia wide tour with American rapper DUCKWRTH. Last October she also released her second album, Forever Neverland, which soared to the peak of the Danish charts.

On that album, she says: “One of the reasons it took so long, was because my debut album (No Mythologies to Follow), and the big hit with Major Lazer, (‘Lean On’), left me very confused. It had me thinking, ‘What sound is my next album gonna be?,’ and it took me a very long time to figure that out.”

Andersen notes that the process behind the creation of her second album was totally different to that of her first.

“My first album was just me and my producer (Ronni Vindahl). With this album, I was working with all these different producers and artists and top-liners. So, it was just kinda like, an ocean of opportunities. And me being a kind of distracted person, I often go like ‘Let’s go this way, no let’s go this way,’ and all of a sudden, it leaves me wondering, ‘What’s actually the core of this album?’ So, it took me a while to figure out what it was gonna be.”

It’s common practice for artists to write and record tracks that never make it to an album. For Andersen, this was no different, with the pop polymath managing to cull a ‘tonne’ of songs. “I wrote a tonne – so I got rid of a bunch [to make way for other tracks].”

For years now, Andersen has been touring relentlessly across the globe, hitting up festivals here, there, and everywhere. This year’s Groovin the Moo was the sixth time she’s been to Australia, which she then followed with a busy tour from here to New Zealand and then Asia.

One place she loves returning to is our very own Australia. “Right now, I’m just really enjoying travelling. I love Australia, because it always feels like such an adventure, because it’s so far away. Weirdly enough, I always feel so at home when I’m there.”

Though, she knows there are times when touring isn’t all that fun. “If you’re on the road for a long time and it’s one of those tours where you don’t get enough sleep, it can be rough.”

She continues, “You’ll start missing people at home, which makes life harder. But, most of the time it’s a lot of joy.”

As for trying to release music regularly, without burning out, she’s struggled previously. “I think for a while, especially doing this album, I was very focussed on ‘I should be doing that and I should keep up with that,’ but it’s really important to focus not on what you should be doing, or what others are doing, but just feeling yourself and your creative energy.”

She adds, “I find myself actually writing much better songs and being much more creative, when I’m not so focused on what everybody else is doing. That’s gonna be my mantra for this year.”

“When I’m performing on stage, that’s where I feel the most freedom, but sometimes, away from the guise of MØ, things can change. If I’m having a bad day, or I’m just tired, and people wanna talk to me or something, it reminds me that some people maybe adore MØ, when I’m just a human having a bad day.

“But it always makes me happy and reminds me about what an awesome life I have. Of course it can be weird, that whole difference, like ‘wow’, when we’re all the same. In terms of pressure, instead of focusing on trouble and ‘I’m different’ and ‘this is weird’, I just focus on whatever I wanna do.

“I hope I’ll be releasing new music at the end of this year. I’m so humbled and happy that I get to do all these things that I love doing.” ■

What: Forever Neverland is out now