Out today is Limbo the long-awaited debut album from the Swedish pop visionary and all round baddie Namasenda. Think a soundtrack to late night drives round the city before getting cute in the corner of a club somewhere at 3AM. Having explored DIY punk and Hyperpop in earlier eras, Limbo shows an artist still evolving and expressing herself to the max.

Single ‘Bad Love’ has Namasenda assessing her current romantic relationship and realising it might not be the healthiest option right now. Being honest and relatable over a catchy hook? Yes, please. Always one to experiment and switch things up on her vocal, ‘Madonna’ introduces a man on the mic that Namasenda tells Loverboy is her ‘muse.’ Could it be her divine self disguised through a filter? Meanwhile on our personal highlight, ‘Miami Crest’ she drops into a deadly rap and ends us.

With the album dropping today and an upcoming show at London’s The Lower Third on 9th July as well as a cheeky appearance at this year’s Sonar festival, we caught up with Namasenda for a Q&A to find out more…

I was going to begin by asking where you are answering these questions from….but I know you begin every day with a movie. So I want to know what movie today started with and why you chose it. Are you on Letterboxd?
i’m on the tube omw home! haha today i actually watched the latest episodes of margo’s got money troubles and friends and neighbors. i love a feel good show. i then actually started a movie but it was bad and i fell asleep so. and yes, obviously

OK, and now on to Limbo! Congratulations on making such a massive sounding album. What has most excited you about this era?
thank you, that’s very sweet. i think everything has me excited about this era. im excited about the live shows that im playing, to get to connect with people. finally. i’m very excited about life in general and it makes me extremely impatient.

I think the standard meaning of Limbo could make some people panic a bit. But do you find comfort in things being in limbo?
absolutely not. it has been full blown panic for three years straight.

I love that Synthwave build of ‘Love Island’ and ‘Madonna’. It makes me want to get in my car and go driving. Can you tell me about sequencing those two tracks at the beginning. Was ‘driving energy’ / the beginning of a journey what you were thinking of? If so, where are we going?
i love that you say that because i always have two things in mind when i’m making a song. is this gonna feel good in a car? and am i excited about playing this live? if those two are a yes then i know its a good song. honestly, we are going anywhere. i always want to be somewhere else. right now id like to go to the archipelago.

A bit of a London thing, but ‘Madonna’ made me think of Mike Skinner & The Streets. I wondered if you could tell me about the voice, who it is, why did you decide to feature it and was Mike on the moodboard at all?
the person who’s voice you’re hearing is my muse.

The wall of sound on ‘Madonna’ is just massive. Love it. How do you build and when do you know you have built it enough?
everything was very intuitive when working on this album, you build until you can’t anymore. i feel like you know in your body when it’s done, you just have to listen.

On ‘Cola’ you sing about a ‘made up persona’. Do you write for the persona of ‘Namasenda’? How do you get in the zone to write for her?
i am more talking about what it’s like to change yourself for someone else and how damaging that is. Namasenda is me so i don’t feel like i have to get into the zone to write. some days are better than others but i honestly just let jesus take the wheel.

How different is she to your real character and do you have any other personas lurking? Can you tell us about any others?
it’s not a persona! Namasenda is a part of me but it’s not all of me. it’s impossible for a person to show all sides of themselves online. i think some people view me as this super rowdy person but i live a very chill life when im in stockholm.  i go to the studio, go home, cook food and watch my movies and shows (there is a schedule). sometimes i party and drink too much, have arguments with my friends. ya know

One of my favourite moments is Hook 2 on ‘Miami Crest’. That drop into your comparatively lower range and spoken word/rap is so good. Can you tell us about it? The power of it!
i really wanted to do something that felt uncomfortable to me on this song. and that was it. i had such a hard time hearing my voice like that but now it’s one of my favorite moments on the album.

It’s also one of the few moments where I believe the vocal filter is off. Can you tell us about what power you get from the filter and why you decide to use / not use it?
not sure if you’re talking about the use of autotune but it’s just a tool that i like the sound of. sometimes (most of the time) it’s fun to use, sometimes it’s not.  to me it’s not deeper than that.

My favourite line is ‘Iconic tits. Clermont twins. Coming in hot. I did it for the plot.’ Do you have a favourite line on there?
i also love iconic tits

‘Romeo Must Die’ feels a bit like a ballad through Namasenda’s lens. It even features the legendary Tina lyrics. I wondered if you saw it as a ballad too, the importance of having a ballad there and which ballads you love?
i guess in comparison to the other songs it is more of a ballad but we didnt write it with that in mind. i wrote it with noonie bao and lotus IV, two incredible writers and producers. we were talking about everyone’s favorite subject: love. love songs are so often about not feeling good enough (cola) and bla bla boring, i thought it would be interesting to shift the focus and ask if this person is good enough for me?

In one interview you said the last two years had been hell. I wondered how that had shown up in your music?
i have a tendency to exaggerate sometimes…. i think i’ve mostly been bored. i don’t really do well when im not releasing music and i am like i said extremely impatient, so i suffer. i think that is the main lesson for me in this lifetime, to be more patient. but who has the time for that.

Lastly we are named after the iconic Mariah Carey song and always ask what is your favourite Mariah song and why? I feel you would love the Cyril Hahn remix of Touch My Body.
i love cyril hahn! my favorite mariah song is obsessed. it makes me feel great and the backstory is just too good

Namasenda’s album Limbo is out now via YEAR0001
Namasenda plays London’s The Lower Third on 9th July.

Photo: Hannah Diamond