Last weekend, Tove Lo performed at the 2023 BottleRock Napa Valley festival, where she joined Duran Duran for “Give It All Up” on top of performing her own set. Now she’s riding that momentum by releasing the dreamy, synth-heavy “I Like U” on Wednesday, May 31.
The Swedish singer initially teased “I Like U” would drop on Thursday, June 1, but couldn’t wait any longer. “Summer is coming… and so is ‘I like u’!” she wrote on Instagram. “Because you deserve it, I’m giving it to you a day early [purple heart emoji] shout out to @timfromthehouse for making it the sweaty nostalgic dance tune it is!”
She continued, “Also, PRIDE is coming and I will be donating a portion of my streaming proceeds from #Ilikeu to the amazing @trevorproject, the leading suicide prevention org for lgbtq young people. Go to their page to get more information on the essential and life saving work they do, and if you’re in a position to donate please do so.”
“I Like U” perfectly captures the disorienting feeling that washes over someone at the onset of a crush, which is mirrored by the Moni Haworth-directed video.
“You say sorry I’m taken / Walk away with a smile / I know I’m not mistaken / You’re the love of my life,” Tove Lo sings to set the stage for the melodic, pulsating hook that will inevitably get stuck in every listener’s head: “La la like you I la la la like you.”
Tove Lo told NME that “I Like U” is “in the vein of the ’90s [and] Y2K-era dance music” and was inspired by “what was going through my head” when she first saw her now-husband. She also shared with the publication that the deluxe version of her October 2022 album Dirt Femme “is coming; it’s just [going to be] a little bit later.”
Watch Tove Lo’s “I Like U” video above.