Sigrid on Her Full-Length Album Sucker Punch and Why She's Proud to Be Making Emotion-Filled Pop Music

In a time where social media has left a lot of young people feeling insecure as they look at other people's polished online lives, 22-year-old musician Sigrid Solbakk Raabe is simply herself. In fact, the young artist, who hails from a small town in Norway, simply goes by Sigrid. Her songs are simultaneously honest and private — they’re not a treasure trail to identifying ex-lovers (she will never speak publicly about her love life, she asserts), nor are they gyrate-able, radio-doctored hits. They’re both sugary and cerebral, targeting a youthful audience looking for someone to summate their experience with music they can dance to, cry to, and make out to.

All of which Sigrid satisfies, and then some. Her debut EP, Don’t Kill My Vibe, proved that she was a musician to watch. Her lilting, husk-colored tones and unapologetic embrace of sugary pop took her to the top of the U.K.’s pop charts and later earned her the BBC Music Sound of 2018 award. And out today is her first full-length project, Sucker Punch, a knockout of an album that's sure to resonate with both longtime fans and new listeners. To celebrate the release, Teen Vogue chatted with her about her songwriting process, what she will continue to keep private, and plenty more.

Teen Vogue: I feel like I should start by congratulating you — you’ve accomplished so much in such a short amount of time.

Sigrid Solbakk Raabe: I’m super proud of everything we’ve accomplished, and now we’ll see how far we can take it. I’m very ambitious.

TV: What does ambition look like to you?

S: I’m scared to say in case I jinx it. I think my ultimate goal is to stay happy. I want to stay happy in my job. The awards mean a lot, it’s a huge honor, but the most important part is that you like what you’re putting out. It is good to know, though, that you’re doing something right.

TV: How do you think your sound has evolved since the Don’t Kill My Vibe days?

S: It’s still the same world, but Sucker Punch is super, super me. I’ve cowritten and co-arranged all of the songs. I love it all.

TV: You’re defined as a pop artist. How does that sit with you?

S: Oh, I’m proud to be pop. I think pop is such a broad genre, but it has such a bad reputation. Some of my songs are light on the top, but you can always go deeper into them — that’s the kind of balance I like. Some of my biggest inspirations write uptempo, huge songs, and that’s what I wanted to do, just with my own take.

TV: But you also do a great sad bop.

S: I think there should always be a musical contrast — I would hate to write something that was just sad or just upbeat. I want songs that are three emotions in one. I try to reflect the human brain as realistically as possible. I don’t think our brains work in an either/or way. I think we have moments like, “This is fucking amazing, I’m so lucky” and then you remember the hard stuff.

TV: Which makes that moment better.

S: Exactly, and I find that fascinating. But even just now, when I said my goal is to be happy, that’s a bit of a weird goal, I guess, because you can’t be just happy. We don’t live in a vacuum like that. But I’m growing up; I’m just becoming an adult.

TV: You write about love so well for someone so young — you can really articulate that human experience. How do you break down your emotions to achieve that?

S: Thank you! I try to be honest. Like when I wrote “Strangers,” I was sitting in the studio with my cowriter just talking. It’s just best to talk. You work out what you want to say.

And pop culture is so important to the songwriting process — I mean, we’re on our phones all the time. Sucker Punch, that title, came from a Google search. I’ve been in this game for only a couple of years, but I feel like there are so many pop artists doing so many interesting things, and that’s now being reflected in the charts. Now people are doing what they want to do. Like I have full creative freedom.

TV: I've read that “Don’t Kill My Vibe” was about a producer who belittled you in the studio — do you catch yourself mining your personal experiences and relationships for your writing?

S: Well, I’m very private about my private life. I’ve chosen this profession and all the things that come with it, but I don’t want to stop writing personal songs because that’s where I find the good stuff. I will never tell who my songs are about, and I set a lot of boundaries for myself — but it’s whatever works for each artist. For instance, with “Don’t Kill My Vibe,” I told that story because people thought it was about an ex-boyfriend.

TV: Have you noticed the studio environment shifting with the #MeToo conversation?

S: With writing sessions, 90 percent is great. But of course there are always situations, but I deal with it when it comes. In this industry, you have to be able to say no. And as a female, I feel like you have to be extremely sure of who you are and want to be.

TV: You’ve also totally managed to avoid the sexualization of young pop stars.

S: I think when I walked into the office in those early days, everyone knew that was not who I was going to be. That’s not what I wanted to do, and everyone should do what they want to do, but to me, that’s a very private matter, and this is my job. When I’m at work I want to wear whatever I want to wear. I want the focus to be what’s up here [taps forehead].

TV: Your commitment to staying authentically yourself is amazing.

S: I don’t know how I could do it the other way. And that’s how I stay normal in all of this, because it is a wild ride.

Related: We Made Sigrid Turn a Fortune Cookie Message Into a Song, and This Is What Happened

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