Zara Larsson has been fantasizing about this

A chauffeured achromatic SUV pulls up to the curb extracurricular Destroyer successful Culver City and retired jumps Zara Larsson similar idiosyncratic riding a interval successful the Rose Parade.

The 28-year-old Swedish vocalist has been a dependable beingness successful popular euphony for astir a decade, with a drawstring of catchy singles — “Lush Life,” “Never Forget You,” “Ruin My Life” — that person racked up hundreds of millions of streams without ever rather establishing a spot for her among music’s glitterati.

Yet that’s yet what happened this twelvemonth with the rubric way from Larsson’s 5th workplace album, “Midnight Sun.” A euphoric electro-pop jam astir “skinny-dipping with your bosom out,” it was called 1 of the songs of the summertime by Pitchfork, which described it arsenic “‘Ray of Light’ via Jersey nine by mode of Lisa Frank” and said it was “seemingly designed successful a laboratory to short-circuit cheery guys’ captious thinking.” Now “Midnight Sun” is nominated for a Grammy Award — Larsson’s archetypal — successful the creation popular signaling class alongside tracks by Lady Gaga and Tate McRae.

Wearing a sparkly mini-dress and a brightly colored shrug, Larsson — who’s besides made headlines lately with her vocal enactment of the Palestinian radical — spoke astir her vocation upswing implicit meal connected a lukewarm December greeting up of an quality astatine iHeartRadio’s yearly Jingle Ball concert.

“It’s truthful overmuch nicer to beryllium present close present than backmost home,” she says, her blond hairsbreadth shining successful the sun. “In Sweden, it’s snowy and cold, and it gets acheronian truthful early. You’ll beryllium like, ‘Guys, it’s truly precocious — we should spell to sleep.’ Then you recognize it’s 3:30.”

You said successful a caller interrogation that the American propaganda instrumentality worked connected you. I wondered which parts specifically.
The amusement of it all: the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame, Universal Studios, conscionable L.A. arsenic a whole. That’s besides wherefore I similar coming present — it’s similar I’m inactive surviving successful a puerility fantasy. There’s thing motivating astir coming to the onshore of trying for occurrence versus being astatine home, wherever we’re conscionable blessed with our security and our healthcare. There’s nary grind.

The grind is good?
In doses. I similar to travel present for a fewer months, consciousness inspired, past spell backmost home.

You started spending clip successful L.A. for enactment erstwhile you were young.
Sixteen oregon 17. I ever came with my ma — she utilized to instrumentality maine everywhere. I didn’t truly person immoderate friends present but past I wrote immoderate radical connected Instagram astir my property and was conscionable like, “You wanna drawback lunch?”

Kind of bold.
Why not? Having friends present changes everything. If I person a weekend, I tin thrust determination and spot somebody. The car is simply a large crushed wherefore I similar L.A. I emotion to beryllium successful the car — I get to perceive to euphony and beryllium successful my thoughts. It’s 1 of the lone times I don’t scroll connected my phone.

Is “Midnight Sun” your champion album?
For sure. I deliberation it’s amended due to the fact that it’s much me. When I started out, I knew that I loved singing and loved performing — I loved to entertain. But arsenic I turn older, I recognize there’s a quality betwixt being a performer and being an artist.

How did making this medium disagree from making your earlier ones?
I got signed astatine 14 and started releasing euphony astatine 15, and I was ever surrounded by a batch of adults oregon radical mode older than me. They were astonishing but they weren’t my peers. I felt a small disconnect due to the fact that of the property spread oregon due to the fact that they had 10 hits nether their loop — I conscionable felt a small small. This was the archetypal task wherever I’d collected radical that felt similar my friends and we were making this genuinely together.

In an alternate timeline, that earlier process dilatory wears you down and you ne'er get astatine the epiphany you described.
I can’t retrieve who, but idiosyncratic said that being an artist, what wears you down isn’t radical hating connected you — it’s being ignored. That’s much hurtful than idiosyncratic booing you.

You ever get booed?
Sometimes, but that wasn’t truly for my euphony — that was for my governmental opinions. But astatine slightest there’s vigor successful that.

Zara Larsson

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

You told PinkPantheress successful Interview mag that you’ve been practicing your Grammy code since you were 8.
Maybe not practicing but decidedly fantasizing: “Wow, I can’t judge it!” Me and the reflector increasing up were similar [crosses fingers]. When I deliberation backmost connected it, the reflector was similar the eventual manifestation tool. That’s what I was doing my full puerility — picturing myself onstage successful beforehand of people, entertaining them but besides entertaining myself.

What did the radical successful your beingness marque of that disposition?
I mean, it was ever embarrassing doing that show successful the mirror, past looking backmost and seeing my sister looking into the country with her friends: “What is she doing?”

You’re playing Jingle Ball tonight. Would you accidental you were aiming “Midnight Sun” astatine U.S. Top 40 radio?
With emotion and respect for iHeart, I truly did not springiness a f— astir radio. Wanting to bash thing for different radical — Will the vigor play this? Will different radical deliberation this is simply a hit? — I don’t deliberation that’s ever gonna genuinely payment you. I recognize wherefore radical bash it. But it’s not precise inspiring. And weirdly enough, erstwhile I stopped doing that, that’s erstwhile they were like, “Do you privation to travel and perform?”

Was occurrence successful America ever important to you?
Yes. That’s wherefore I ne'er wanted to sing successful Swedish. Back home, each our fashionable artists sing successful Swedish.

Writing lyrics successful Swedish —
[Cringes]

It wouldn’t beryllium good?
Maybe. I haven’t truly tried. As a language, it’s precise melodic. And what’s absorbing is I emotion to constitute successful Swedish — I utilized to person this blog that I wrote successful Swedish.

Do immoderate Swedish radical resent you for not singing successful Swedish?
No, due to the fact that we’ve had truthful galore astonishing artists who sing successful English: Roxette, Ace of Base, a batch of immense DJs. Everybody knows that Sweden has a immense export of euphony — that’s astir apt what made maine consciousness similar I tin bash this due to the fact that each these different radical person done it: Robyn, Lykke Li, Max Martin, obviously.

Is Max Martin regarded successful Sweden arsenic a nationalist hero?
He’s truthful low-key. If anybody with semi-long hairsbreadth came up and said, “I’m Max Martin,” radical would beryllium like, “Yeah.” I don’t deliberation he’s a recognizable idiosyncratic successful people’s minds due to the fact that he’s not connected TV. We don’t person a personage culture.

In popular music, astir of the large performers are women and astir of the large producers are men. Yet I was struck by the information that Addison Rae made her medium successful Sweden with 2 women: Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser.
I f— emotion them. Elvira is 1 of my favourite producers. I knew a fewer years backmost that I ne'er privation to beryllium successful the workplace with lone men. I’ve done that truthful galore times, and they were ever precise nice. But I ne'er felt genuinely seen and heard successful those rooms. This clip fundamentally nary consecutive men made the record, and it was wonderful.