Despite a lengthy comeback tour a couple years ago, Swedish House Mafia, the trio of Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, and Axwell, have not released new music since 2012. That changes today, with the release of “It Gets Better.”
This isn’t the single with Ty Dolla $ign and 070 Shake, “Lifetime,” that is being performed together on Jimmy Fallon this coming Monday, but rather one of the unreleased songs heard frequently on their tour. With a reverbed vocal and a slight taste of hip hop, this feels much more like Zhu than the group’s older progressive house days. There’s a reason for the change, however.
Swedish House Mafia are releasing their debut album, Paradise Again, later this year.
“It was just like, ‘What the f–k do we do? How do we come back? Do we just give them another [version of] what we’ve done before?’ ” Ingrosso told Billboard. “I was like, ‘F–k that; it’s depressing to go back. It’s disgusting to go back.’”
“We have no idea if people are going to like [the new music],” adds Ingrosso. “But we are just really proud of what we have done.”
Sure enough, while watching the live premiere on YouTube this morning, there was plenty of a divide between fans, with some commenting repeated fire emojis, and others giving it a score of anywhere from 0 to 3 out of 10, asking “What happened?”
The group’s devil may care attitude is sure to shield them from much of the criticism.
“When we came back together again, it was like we had to rediscover what this was,” says Angello. “We all have our different likings, obviously. [But then] Seb shows me something, or Ax shows me something I have never seen or heard, and it becomes this magic again that we had when we were young.”
Check out “It Gets Better” below, prepare for “Lifetime” this coming Monday, and join us all as we await the group’s debut album* later this year!
*Note: Debut album as referred to by Billboard, the group’s 2012 Until Now is likely considered more of a compilation album of their previously released singles.
