Building a universe comes innately to DJ Suzy and her music. Since 2019, the Swedish alt-pop artist has been conceptualising the world of her turbulent alter ego into her namesake debut album. Through Kira Krash, she fluctuates between the duality of light versus the dark she sees within herself. Her latest single “end scene” falls into the darker half of her debut LP, where Suzy uses wordplay and a sound reminiscent of lo-fi, 8-bit video games to explore heartbreak.
The track really belongs to the second half of the album; the story of “end scene” focuses on “the last moment of the relationship, or the situationship, that you have,” details Suzy. “It’s the last scene of your moment.”
Working with Oscar Scheller and Swedish producer Osrin, the single’s theme grew throughout its creative process. An initial track laid down between the trio during a London studio session led them to constantly strive for “end scene” to reach its full potential. Lyrically, inspiration struck between listening to Imogen Heap, and Suzy envisioning an old movie in front of her, aiming to capture the essence of both during early writing stages. They, ultimately, met her with clarity and intent on how to integrate the song into . “My favourite feeling is when you can see everything in front of you and have so many ideas, and they just create everything for you.”
Intrigue in acknowledging hidden truths, prohibited thoughts and secrets is the ammunition behind Suzy’s creative ethos, allowing her to shed light on an emotional field that is often negatively nuanced. Suzy continues down the course of her previous two EP releases – 2024’s Digital girl and 2023’s – where she immerses listeners into distinct atmospheres and headspaces, thus enabling conversations around embarrassment and shame on .
For Suzy, worldbuilding comes from being inspired by her childhood and seeing the shift from an analog to digital environment. “I really love fantasy, I love to dream away. I feel like that's some type of escapism that I use in my music,” she explains. Coming from a creatively diverse family; her dad is a blues musician, her mom a former dancer, and her grandmother a wig artist; influence surrounded her as she grew up and developed an eclectic taste palette. Music discovery came with an influx of artists, including Norah Jones, Shakira, A Tribe Called Quest, Mariah Carey, Neil Young and The Pharcyde. “I feel like I tend to come back to that music somehow now as an adult. I'm inspired by so much stuff.”
As the release of inches closer, 23 October to be exact, the relationship between Suzy and her marginally darker alter ego has started to reveal the ways in which they need each other. “I see it like the [album] cover; me and Kira Krash as a yin and yang kind of figure,” says Suzy. Coalescing tension and stress in her lyricism with upbeat synths demonstrates the acceptance in allowing the Kira Krash side of her to exist.
As this balance helps her discover her personal identity, her debut will depict Suzy navigating from childhood to adulthood, honouring the lightness and darkness that comes alongside the journey.