MØ on Vulnerability, Political Activism, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I was nineteen when I first heard MØ’s “Waste of Time,” its thumping bass, liquid guitar riffs, and towering vocals frenetically soothing my young broken heart. “Lean On,” her relentlessly catchy, record-shattering track with Major Lazer, pulsed over the New York airwaves seemingly every twenty minutes as I drove beachside, windows down with my best friends in 2015. And it was in 2024 that I added “I Want You,” off 2018’s Forever Neverland to the love of my life’s playlist after it had been stuck in my head for the last 72 hours prior.
For as long as I can recall, it seems that every era of my life has a MØ track assigned to it, serving as an affirming nod to her genre-bending, ever-progressing, and refreshingly perennial approach to songwriting and composition.
I had the pleasure of speaking with one of my favorite, relentlessly metamorphosizing artists, MØ, this week, where we discussed political activism, her new single “Who Said,” our shared love of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and how it’s always cool to cry.
KP: I just want to start by saying how excited I was when your name came across my desk for this because I’m such a huge fan of your music. You’re one of the few artists that I feel never disappoints me, genuinely.
I’ve been listening to you since 2014 – I think the first song of yours that I heard was “Waste of Time” off No Mythologies to Follow, which just celebrated its ten-year anniversary. I want to congratulate you especially on that milestone because that album still sounds so incredible to me, which I feel is often hard to do in music when everything can sound dated so quickly.
But the record itself is so unique, and that’s really what initially drew me into your work. “Maiden” and “Slow Love” quickly come to mind as favorites, too.
What was it that inspired that album ten years ago, either sonically or personally? What do you think still makes it sound so fresh and unique?
MO: Ah, thank you so much for your kind words! And thank you for that as well – it has been very wholesome for me to celebrate the ten-year anniversary for my No Mythologies To Follow, baby, because that album has such a special place in my heart. It represents such a magical and important time of my life.
I don't think there was one main inspiration when writing NMTF, it was just a combination of everything that was going on in my life at the time. If I were to try and boil it down to three things, I would say it was:
The breakup that I was going through was creating this deep sense of hunger for freedom, while also giving me the blues.... which can be a very inspiring cocktail, if you go about it in the right way.
I was twenty-three / twenty-four when I wrote those songs, and at this point in my life, I was starting to (finally) find confidence in my voice and my vision. I was becoming "myself" as a young adult, which was scary but also incredibly exciting
And as all of that suggests, it was just a year of change, and the gates of inspiration were open – I felt everything – the sky, the music, the emotions running through my veins. All of this made me spit out songs that came straight from the source.
KP: Forever Neverland is also another one of my favorite albums – I actually just recently added “I Want You” and “Imaginary Friend” to my girlfriend’s playlist, which I think has well over 500 songs now, so I do need to find a new hobby. [Laughs].
But when I go back and I listen to all of these albums back to back, there is this incredibly interesting undercurrent of it being so “MØ” but the sound also constantly evolving and changing, which I love so much. I can find it a bit tawdry when artists get so stuck in this one particular sound and string that from one album to the next to the next.
You seem to have such a strong, recognizable vision, and that’s what I love so much. What do you credit to building such an incredible signature sound that also can have so many different lives within itself? Can you lend anyone advice about finding their own identity, either within music or even their personal lives?
MØ: I’m so glad you like my changing sound. [Laughs]. I sometimes worry that my curious nature confuses people about who I am as an artist!
Over the years though, I have learned to accept this about myself. For better or worse, I love a lot of different music, and I get inspired by all kinds of genres and styles. Growing up, Spice Girls were my favorite band. A couple of years later, Sonic Youth was my favorite band. At the moment, I almost exclusively go to black metal shows.
All that said, I do think it's important, at least for me, to know yourself – to know what kind of artist you want to be, and what message you want to give to the world. It's important to know what you stand for.
For me, I think one of the anchors through which I enjoy expressing myself the most is in my vocal performance and vocal production. This remains constant through the changing sonic landscape. The lyrics are important too, sure, but for me, the feeling and the magic is really in the delivery of the vocals, and in the way that you choose to layer and produce them.
I am most affected by listening to a voice that bleeds. Whether the person can sing or not, or whether I understand the lyrics or not doesn't really matter – if there's a pure emotion, I will cry and beg for more.
KP: I feel I’d be very amiss to not speak about your incredible features, which have all become massive successes in their own right. “Lean On,” your track with Major Lazer and DJ Snake, is still one of the most streamed songs in Spotify history, “Beg For It,” your track with Iggy Azalea, placed highly on Billboard charts across the world, and your song with Major Lazer and Justin Bieber, “Cold Water,” held the same fate. It seems that much of what you feature on turns to gold.
You bring such a magic to everyone you’ve worked with, which I think is so incredible. What is it about collaborations that you enjoy? Is there anything especially interesting that you can share about any of your past features?
MØ: It's so fun featuring on other peoples projects, because it allows you to play around with what you are and what you can do! You enter someone's already existing world, which takes some pressure off. You don't have to invent everything, you just have to add – that makes the creative process so much more freeing and exciting. Also, it's just wonderful to meet and work with other artists and make new friends.
“After my burnout, I went on a deeper journey to discover why I’ve had such a hard time setting boundaries and saying no – I have had to learn how to respect myself, to respect my body.”
KP: True to form, I quickly fell in love with “Who Said,” your latest release, which is out now. Can you walk us a little bit through its writing and inspiration or production?
MØ: Happy you like it!! I actually wrote the chorus on an old Ronni Vindahl (No Mythologies To Follow exec producer) instrumental back in 2015! But then nothing more happened to it until last year when Nick Sylvester (producer) was in Copenhagen to work with me on new music! He loved the demo and quickly made the first drafts, which would become how “Who Said” is sounding today. We were very inspired by Scandinavian electronic indie music, the wave, which, in my opinion, The Knife was one of the founders of. It’s a genre that I am highly obsessed with. So that was what we were inspired by sonically!
The amazing songwriter and artist Clementine Douglas then joined in on a session the day after, and helped write the last parts and shape the song!
KP: You’ve spoken openly about needing breaks, periods to decompress and take time for yourself, “instead of just following what somebody with power says you should do.” As important as this is, it’s still something that many people struggle with, particularly women, who at times carry much more responsibility than their male counterparts. What advice would you lend to women who are struggling with that life-work balance, or are too timid to advocate for themselves in terms of the time that they need? How did you find that voice?
MØ: It's fucking difficult! I'm better at this now, yes, but learning the hard way after a major burnout, I cannot recommend it! It's funny though how it can be so difficult for many people to learn from other people’s experiences. Many people tried to warn me that I was working too hard and wasn't setting enough boundaries for myself – friends, family, colleagues – but I just didn't know how to listen to my body, until I knew!
All of this is not to say that you shouldn't listen to what people say, and just learn the hard way (lolz, no thank you). But it's understandable how hard it is to set these boundaries if you do not yet know how big the price is.
However, I will say that it comes down to self respect. After my burnout, I went on a deeper journey to discover why I've had such a hard time setting boundaries and saying no – I have had to learn how to respect myself, to respect my body. Somehow I didn't find myself worthy of breaks, or of getting what I needed. I have had to learn that if I want to have a long career (and a good life, for that matter,) I have to respect myself, and that's not just something you learn by saying it aloud – you have to show your nervous system that you mean it, and act on it… actively saying no, actively standing up for your opinion, actively shutting off your phone. That's the only way, for me at least, to get it into the backbone of your being. That I stand up for myself and take action so that I can get what I want out of life.
KP: I read that you’re a huge fan of Sonic Youth and Kim Gordon, as am I, but you love Karen O and Yeah Yeah Yeahs as well, and they are my favorite band of all time. I got to see them play back in 2013 here in New York right after Mosquito came out and it’s still my favorite concert I’ve ever been to. In a selfish way, I have to ask – what’s your favorite YYY song or album? I can never choose when people ask me without breaking out into a cold sweat, so now I’m passing this stress onto you. [Laughs].
MØ: Oh my god I'm obsessed with YYY and Karen O! It's so strange, but I clearly have an obsession with non-male artists starting with K – Kim Gordon, Karen O and Karin Dreijer (Fever Ray, The Knife)! It feels very narcissistic of me since my own name is Karen.
Anyway, yes, I love YYY. You're so lucky you've seen them live! I have never, but it's on the top of my "must-see" list!!
My favorite album is Fever To Tell because it literally is the soundtrack to my late teens, and that album has had an enormous influence on me as both an artist and as a person.
I know the feeling of cold sweat though – when people ask me what my favorite Sonic Youth album is, I pretty much have the reaction that you're describing!
“To me there’s something deeply contradicting between one day asking people to pre-save your new song, and then the next day demanding a ceasefire.
But this is maybe me just overthinking – because on the other hand, I do think it’s important to use your platform and privileges.
Although there is a lot of horror going on, there is also joy, or at least, we should remember the joy while the horror is going on, or else you will burn out.”
KP: As someone who is an incessant crier with nearly every emotion, “Cool To Cry” off your last album, Motordrome, comes to mind. When I step back from my own personal experiences, I realize that I had a very difficult upbringing in many different ways, but I always thought that crying was a sign of weakness, so I don’t think I ever really cried from emotion until I was about seventeen. Now I make the joke that I’m overpaying, making up for all that lost time, but it truly is important to have transparency with your emotions. And, you’re right, it’s cool to cry. As a songwriter and as a woman, how do you personally find strength in vulnerability?
MØ: Crying is the best!! No, but I can relate to what you're saying – I, too, used to view crying as a sign of weakness, and I resented being viewed as weak. I cried a lot as a child, but then when I became a teenager, I tried very hard to be a "badass," so I forced myself to plug my tear ducts. That stuck with me for a long time, but after my very real encounter with stress, I've been trying really hard to change this narrative, to be more accepting of my vulnerability – which was always there, duh – and also to welcome the tears! It takes a while to relearn to just let it flow though! Good for you that you have success!
KP: You originally got your start in the punk scene, which I’m sure was an invaluable time in your life in many ways. What did growing up in that world teach you? What lessons from it do you still carry with you?
MØ: Yeah, it absolutely was!! It taught me many things. It showed me a place where I felt like I belonged, which felt like a breath of fresh air at the time. I had always felt like an outsider – I did have friends in school and stuff, but I always felt like the odd one out – like some layer to my existence was missing. The punk scene showed me this layer and planted the seeds for my identity and inspiration to grow from. It taught me that nothing comes easy, but that you can do it yourself if you put hard work, effort, and love into it. It taught me that the most amazing things can come out of very few resources. It also taught me the importance of community and standing for something.
KP: You have been, and remain, very politically active, something that has become exceedingly critical in these trying times globally. I say that, too, as an American with our elections occurring imminently next month (I won’t even get started on asking how this race is still so neck and neck). What led to that fire within you to always push for equality, for greater? How do you avoid burnout and keep that flame alive? What would you tell women who are somewhat hesitant about taking a firm stand?
MØ: Trying times indeed! Again, I will credit the punk scene for showing me, educating me, and lighting my fire for political activity – for showing me something that always lived inside of me, this feeling of not belonging, of being left outside – how important it is to try and push for everyone to feel included.
I would be lying if I said that it’s easy to find a balance, when to use your platform when to not. I try to do things that are useful and avoid hollow virtue signaling, but I know that I won’t always get it right. To me there's something deeply contradicting between one day asking people to pre-save your new song, and then the next day demanding a ceasefire. But this is maybe me just overthinking – because on the other hand, I do think it's important to use your platform and privileges. Although there is a lot of horror going on, there is also joy, or at least, we should remember the joy while the horror is going on, or else you will burn out.
One piece of advice that I will give, which I received from a wise female colleague, was to do IRL activism. Sometimes I hesitate to use my platform because of this contradiction inside of me, or because of threats, and I take a break and focus on stuff that I can actively do in my daily IRL life – to donate money, go to demonstrations, support local groups, etc. It can be really helpful and energizing to do things in a non-chronically online way.
