New music to listen to this week: Zara Larsson

Now Hear This

Swedish singer-songwriter Zara Larsson (Press image)

It took her collaboration with MNEK for the UK to really catch on to Zara Larsson, the absurdly young (18) singer-songwriter whose 2015 song "Never Forget You" shot to No.1 in her native Sweden and made it to No.5 in the UK.

Her debut single "Lush Life" from her second studio album is a neat slice of Scandi pop with a Rihanna-esque slur in her vocal work.

Since then the track has been remixed by French Braids, the premiere of which you can hear right now, which just screams summer. Take a listen and let us know what you think:

Q&A with Zara Laarson

What music have you been listening to recently?

Anderson Paak, Bryson Tiller, Kehlani, MNEK

You've achieved considerable success for someone your age but seem to be handling the pressure very well - what was it like hitting No.5 (and No.1) in the UK and Swedish charts?

It’s fun, it’s exciting with Sweden being where I’m from, it's amazing to be recognised there. I respect the UK music scene so much and have enjoyed collaborating with MNEK. I'm just glad that people are feeling what I'm doing.

What are you looking forward to for 2016?

Releasing my album and touring.

First gig, best gig?

My first was after I won Sweden's Got Talent when I had a show that people paid tickets for, but it was mostly my friends and family. I even remember what I was wearing, everything was from Limited Too. I was 10 years old.

My best was at a festival with over 20,000 people, I got tomatoes thrown at me! It was the best and the worst - it was embarrassing but then the crowd was so supportive after that.

Zara Laarson is one of the Box Upfront artists for 2016. 'Lush Life' is out now