Dating apps are getting old. First dates feel like job interviews. Part-time lovers turn into long-term problems. In the brand new single from Swedish artist Nea, the answer is easy, just love yourself the way, amount, and degree to which you desire.
“A Lover Like Me,” Nea’s newest single from her upcoming debut album, due out later this year, answers the question as to why we should deal with other people who come into our life trying to figure us out like a four-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. They sort the pieces of you to their liking, jamming pieces where they don’t belong and throwing them on the floor when they’re done, leaving someone else to pick up the pieces.
Nea herself says on the track, “I’ve been trying this and that/I’ve been doing him, and her/ but nobody else will do/ it’s about me, it’s not about you.”
The misnomer here is that a lover like me invokes Nea's idea that we need somebody like her to bring us satisfaction. She doesn’t need anybody for satisfaction. The person who knows her best is, after all, herself.
The song is an empowering electro-pop anthem that sounds like aliens are abducting you. Really, really fun aliens. The subtle layer of horns and background vocals makes it feel like you’re watching a live performance of the song every time you listen, and the band is having a great time playing. It blends elements of 2000’s ska, early 2010 pop, and modern pop anthems in a way that shouldn’t work but produces an entirely new and familiar sound.
Nea’s vocals are soft and determined. She knows what she wants and calls it as she sees it. It’s her world, and we’re all living in it. She might not get satisfaction from these boys and girls, but she gives some deep satisfaction to her listeners.
Nea has amassed over 800 million streams as an artist and is regarded as one of Sweden’s most acclaimed songwriters. Nea has worked with artists like Zara Larsson, Felix Jaehn, Trove Stryke, and Axwell.
Despite having yet to drop an album, Nea has already achieved benchmark successes in the music. Her 2019 debut, “Some Say,” became the 9th most-played track on European radio, and she’s received attention from outlets like Billboard, ELLE, and Wonderland.
Her debut album is expected to drop later this year.
Written by
Eli Chavez