Nina Nesbitt is set to take her continuing rising star status to the next level with the release of her eagerly anticipated new album Älskar. Made in the show of the introspection, loss and fear of lockdown, Älskar celebrates life in all of its complexities as well as love in every form imaginable. As we’ve heard from its previous singles ‘Dinner Table’ and ‘When You Lose Someone’, ‘Älskar’ (meaning “to love” in Swedish, a reflection of Nina’s half-Swedish heritage) shimmers with both tender, intimate ballads and huge escapist ‘80s-tinged bangers that beg for the dancefloor.
The new single ‘Pressure Makes Diamonds’ is one of the album’s brightest moments, all refined alt-pop sparkle and alluring effervescent melodies which are capped by Nina’s quick-flowing freestyle vocal. It’s a song of contrasts. Its sound is immediately catchy and fun, but it expresses a powerful message: the stereotypical expectations that so many young women are expected to conform to as they reach their mid-twenties. Nina wrote the song with its producers Jack & Coke (Charli XCX, Tove Lo) and the Swedish artist SHY Martin. It was then mixed by the award-winning Manon Grandjean (Stormzy, Dave).
In addition to the singles, Älskar introduces highlights at every turn. The early landmark moment ‘Teenage Chemistry’ celebrates Nina’s current long-term relationship with beat-driven dreamy elegance and the instantly relatable lyrics. It then journeys through the minimalist ambient pop of ‘No Time (For My Life To Suck’), an intimate, acoustic arrangement on ‘I Should Be A Bird’, and cinematic balladeering with ‘Colours of You’. By the time the album closes with the gorgeously glacial title track, it’s evident that Nina Nesbitt has created an album that primes her for a much bigger future.