AVICII: SOS, Tough Love, Heaven // The Music Blooms in Starry Heavens, the Music is Alive in Our World

More than a year has passed since AVICII (Tim Bergling), a famous Swedish DJ/producer, passed away. Based on his family’s intentions, the songs left by AVICII were collected and complied as an album. The album was released on June 6, 2019.

TIM is a name assigned to the album. Some songs had been finished by him, the other songs were completed by his familiar producers because they had remained incomplete.

SOS is a debut song from the album. This song is produced by two producers: Kristoffer Fågelmark and Albin Nedler. They worked with AVICII for his song Pure Grinding, recorded in the studio album Stories.

It is worth pointing out that a great singer Aloe Blacc participates this song. He has ever worked with AVICII in the following songs: Wake Me Up and Liar Liar. Especially, Wake Me Up is the representative for AVICII. Aloe’s vocal also made a contribution to the big hit of the song.

How fantastic it is that we can experience this collaboration between the talents again. Aloe’s wonderful singing voice brings life to SOS. He sings soulfully, sings gently, and sings funky. The words illuminate and shine with the singing voice, and they change their expressions in this song one after another.

The second single Tough Love was released from the album. The song is produced by Vargas & Lagola, a songwriter/producer duo consisting of Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir.

The song starts with an ensemble of strings and acoustic guitar. When I listened to the song for the first time, I felt a sad feeling of loss. What has been lost? Is it dream, love, or life? In a beautiful and painful ensemble, I am looking into the darkness of a hole that has been vacated.

The vocals on this song are Agnes (Agnes Carlsson) and Vargas & Lagola. Their singing voices are wonderful and their harmony creates one big world. The singing voice woven by Agnes, Vincent Pontare, and Salem Al Fakir has a dynamic, yet somewhat shady, sad atmosphere.

Heaven is born out of a collaboration with Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin. According to the message contributed to the album by Katie Bain, an editor/writer working for music media such as Billboard, the song was created in 2014 and then finished by AVICII in 2016.

I am fascinated by a big spiral of AVCII’s electronic sounds and CM’s vocal in the sounds, and then captivated by a world of Heaven. In the second half of the song, the spiral gradually expands to swallow you.

As you dive deeper into the song, you will be drawn to the phrases the bass creates. In the elaborately assembled sound, I strongly feel the presence of the bass that supports the song. The impressive sound will soak into your body, your heart, and your memory.