Swedish indie-pop artist Lykke Li has returned with a haunting new single, “Knife in the Heart,” offering the first taste of her forthcoming album The Afterparty. She’s described the track as “my brutalist nursery rhyme anthem — the emo girl in me, fully unleashed,” signaling that fans should brace for an especially raw, emotional chapter. “Knife in the Heart” swells with dark, echoing production and aching vocals from Li, who even enlisted children (including her own son) to sing the chorus, adding an eerie poignancy to its refrain.
The Afterparty, due out May 8, will be Lykke Li’s sixth studio album and her first in four years. Notably, the singer has billed it as her final album, which adds a sense of gravity to this release. Li has shared that the song’s refrain — “this life, this life is a knife in the heart” — encapsulates the pain and hope of the human experience. With its visceral lyrics and stirring sound, “Knife in the Heart” sets the stage for what could be a powerful swan-song era for Lykke Li.
