Lykke Li Announces “Maybe Her Final” Album The Afterparty At Private Listening Party

For a little while now Lykke Li has been hinting that she's working on a new album. Her most recent album EYEYE arrived in 2022, and since then the Swedish singer-songwriter released the single "Midnight Shining," and got a Golden Globe nomination for co-writing Miley Cyrus' "Beautiful That Way," and released a three-song covers EP. That new album is still coming soon, but it might be Lykke Li's last one.

Recently Lykke Li hosted a private listening party in Los Angeles where she played some new music. "This is as many Spotify listeners as I have, so I'm very grateful," she joked to the audience. She continued:

OK, let's talk about the album. It was a motherfucker to make. Well, it's called The Afterparty, and the way I make albums is I kind of sit in my car and I have, like, a matcha with a plastic lid that I feel so guilty about. And then, I don't know if you feel this feeling too, I mean — yeah. Heavy. But the world, you know, it feels like, 'OK, it's 4 a.m. and the sun is gonna rise, and it's either Trump, AI, or just like a huge hangover. So that was kind of what I was working with. It’s a journey through the night and it’s meant to be listened to in one go like this, so I'm sure this is the only time that will ever happen. So I'm very grateful. So it's a journey through the night. Really like my lower self talking to whatever's up there...This is my sixth album, and maybe my final.

Is she joking? Maybe! Is she serious? Maybe! Either way, she sounds pretty jaded about the state of the music industry in the age of AI and auto-shuffle and algorithmically curated playlists, which I can't blame her for. Details are scant about The Afterparty's tracklist or release date, but here's hoping there's an Addison Rae feature. Hear Lykke Li talk about the album below.