EXCLUSIVE: Inside Agnes’s Bold New Era: Queer Joy, Artistry and Full Creative Freedom

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The Swedish pop visionary speaks to Oliver Hall about queer connection,
disappearing to find yourself, and turning milk into money!

“It’s summer, but it’s rainy, stormy, and so dramatic,” Agnes laughs, turning her laptop to
show the view from Gotland, the Swedish island she now calls home. “Yesterday, it was
beautiful, but something happened during the night.”

Something happening overnight feels like a pretty apt metaphor for Agnes’s artistic
evolution. The former teen pop prodigy, who rose to international fame with the 2009
smash, Release Me, has spent the last few years quietly transforming her creative process,
her sound, and her sense of self. And the result? A new chapter rooted in freedom,
honesty and joy.

Her 2021 album Magic Still Exists arrived like a spell: disco-drenched and spiritual, full of
shimmering synths and interludes that felt like whispers from the cosmos. Now, she’s
ushering in a bold new era, with the punchy new singles Milk and Balenciaga Covered
Eyes—and she’s doing it her way.

A queer connection

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Agnes doesn’t try to guess why queer audiences love her. “It’s always hard to talk about
yourself from that perspective,” but she has a hunch. “Since I was a child, I was inspired
by these big pop divas and disco queens,” she says. “For me, being an artist is so much
more than just making music. I love to think about visually what I want to do. In a way,
creating a universe.”

That dedication to world-building, she thinks, is part of what resonates. “Since I was a
child, I’ve always been asking myself: Who am I? Who do I want to be? Reinventing
myself. Not being down with other people telling me who I am and what I should do. I think people from the LGBTQI+ community connect with this, and all of these thoughts and
questions go into my music.”

And maybe that’s why it’s never felt like just pop. Agnes’s music is pop with purpose.
A break to build something bigger, Agnes stepped away from the public eye for four years before creating Magic Still Exists, and says that decision wasn’t scary—it was necessary.

“There was no fear,” she says firmly. “It was such a strong feeling that I needed to take this
time to get to know myself as an artist and as a songwriter. I had a bigger fear of making
music and not having anything to say.”

She started learning music production basics, giving herself total independence for the first
time in her career. “If I had an idea, I could walk into the studio and make it,” she says. “I
spent so much time just making songs and writing. It was such a healing process.”

That time taught her what she needs to thrive creatively, and that you don’t always need to
rush. “Do less and do it from your heart,” she says now. “Some songs go very quickly, and
some things take time.”

Disco was her light in the pandemic

When Agnes began creating Magic Still Exists during the pandemic, she was in a fog of
self-doubt and anxiety. “I wanted to make music that makes me feel lighter, happier,” she
recalls. “Disco, for me, is that light in the tunnel.”

The resulting record, which Agnes calls her ‘first album’ in a spiritual sense, was a full-
body act of self-expression.

“I put my life, heart, time; my everything into it,” she says. “For the first time in my career, I had a really clear vision of what I wanted to do.”

She was proud of it—still is—but never assumed others would get it. “You never know,”
she says. “You can have all these ideas and not know if people are going to resonate with it or not.”

When The Guardian, Pitchfork and others named it among the best albums of 2021, it felt ‘magical’. Turning milk into butter, and butter into money, Agnes’s new single Milk is a punchy affirmation of personal power—and it started as a chant in the car.

“I remember I was driving, and the chant was on a loop: I turn milk into butter and butter into money, and the money honey, I create the life that I like,” she recalls.

She credits Swedish punk band The Hives for unlocking it. “I started to sing the milk lyrics
on top of one of their songs,” she says. “Then we started to create this kind of rock punk
version, but something wasn’t quite right. So we brought in some disco, and everything
just fell into place.”

She describes the song as a “state of self-confidence. Knowing who you are, where you
want to go, and not caring about anything else.”

From silhouettes to skin, visually, Agnes has always brought high fashion and mystique to her projects. But for this new era, she’s shifting. “With Magic Still Exists, I was very focused on having a strong silhouette,” she explains. “Minimalistic, but maximalistic minimalism,” she laughs.

Now, she wants to feel freer in her body. “I still love strong silhouettes, but I knew with the
new album, I wanted to come more closer to the skin. I knew I wanted to move more, and
that’s pretty hard when you’re in this armour.”

And she’s soaking up inspiration everywhere: “Watching runways, films, documentaries,
going to museums, looking at sculptures, picking out details from everywhere and blending
them together.”

The feeling of coming home

Agnes lights up when she talks about performing at Pride events across Europe. “When
the crowd is queer, there’s a feeling. I’m trying to put a word on it, but it’s like coming
home,” she says. “It’s the feeling of love, and the feeling of acceptance.”

And with live touring finally back on the cards, she’s keen to bring that feeling further
south. “That’s my main focus right now,” she says. “Magic Still Exists was released during
the pandemic, so I haven’t toured with it yet. I’m so excited to tour that with the new
album.”

That means shows in Australia and New Zealand are on her mind. “I’m picturing how can
we do each song live,” she says, already dreaming up more magic!

Follow Agnes on socials @agnesofficial. Milk and Balenciaga Covered Eyes are out
now on all good streaming platforms.

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