If you’re anything like me, you enjoy listening to music that makes you feel a little less alone, and maybe a little bit more in love. Whether it’s a groovy jam to dance around to in the safety of your kitchen as you wait for the pasta water to boil, or a heavy hitting ballad worthy of a 45-minute steamy shower concert – you do not shy away from the songs that make you feel a little less lonely in your thoughts, and perhaps, even a little more confident.
If you, my music loving reader, are on the hunt for some new kitchen, bathroom, and shower jams that will transport you to a 60’s dance floor, or the moment of leaving a lover, then the positively moody and groovy music of Swedish singer Lotta Lindgren, better known as LÉON, is nothing short of perfect for you.
Though I wish I could detail every lyric of LÉON’s that I personally have fallen in love with, I will save you the time. Instead, I will tell you which songs are perfect for whichever mood you are in; whether it be amidst the post-heartbreak tears, or getting ready for the first date confidence booster.
LÉON’s first Extended Playlist, titled Treasure is short and sweet; the most notable of the songs on the previously mentioned gem is “Tired of Talking”. This candy sweet tune graced the radio airwaves in 2015 and is the song that put LÉON on the music map.
Her second EP, titled For You, is just as brief, but slightly less sweet. Consisting of more soulful and melancholy ballads, and one of my favorite songs of all time, “Think About You”. This extended playlist is sure to bring you back into the eyes of an old lover.
LEON’s third EP, (admittedly my favorite of the three), is titled Surround Me. The music within does just as it admits. “Body” and “Surround Me” are the perfect dreamy jams to blast with the windows down in the midst of a sunny-summer afternoon; perhaps with the arm of your lover draped across your shoulders. “No Goodbyes” is better suited for a solo drive past the home of a high school sweetheart.
If you’re on the hunt for the ultimate mood booster, LÉON’s self-titled first album, released in 2019 is the perfect escape for you. With a soft orange cover and 60’s theme, this album is nothing short of a summer necessity. “Falling” and “You and I” come up as my top picks for a dance session around my house, while “Hope is A Heartache” and “What You Said” never fail to stop me in my tracks when startled by a memory I never knew I had.
If you are searching for a little bit of everything in one piece of art, Apart, LÉON’s second album, which ironically, given the title, served as a great source of comfort for me over the beginning of quarantine, is perfect for you. Second to Harry Styles “Adore You” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, LÉON’s “Die For You is” number three on my list of favorite songs of all time. Give it a listen and you will understand what I mean when I say that this song makes you feel as though you are watching your greatest love walk away. Every time I listen to this song, I feel as though I am hearing it for the first time. In a similar fashion, the first time I listened to “And It Breaks My Heart”, I ran downstairs to my mom and played it to her out loud. I have never had a song put every one of my thoughts and feelings into the words I had been desperately searching for (for context, I had just broken up with my high school boyfriend of four years who I never thought I would fall out of love with). On a lighter note, my GO TO songs when I am in the mood for a groove are “Seventeen” and “Crazy/Stupid”. My favorite lyrics of all time being, “Like a scene in some bad film we say goodbye and I say, “this the last time”, but it never really is, you laugh and say, “Oh is it now?”, cause nothing ever changes can’t go back to being strangers”, (my musicless typing of the words does not do it justice, so give it a listen, and you will understand what I mean).
Needless to say, LÉON’s raspy voice and love laced lyrics have served me in a variety of ways; allowing me to reflect on the love I have for others, and will continue to work on having for myself. Now, until the day when we can gather in closeness at a concert together, I encourage you to pop on a mask, pop in some earbuds, and go for a stroll, and bask in the loveliness of LÉON’s music.