Fifteen years after starting their career, Swedish House Mafia finally released their debut studio album, Paradise Again, which features impressive collaborations with Sting and The Weeknd.
The “Don’t You Worry Child” hitmakers admit to Variety that they didn’t expect to work with the Police frontman, adding they only asked Sting for permission to sample his song “Roxanne” for “Redlight” — and the British singer jumped on board.
“We had this crazy combination of melody and arrangement. We knew there was no way we’d be able to clear the sample, so we tried contacting him,” recalled Sebastian Ingrosso. “We assumed he’d be quite protective.”
He continued,”When we did, he loved our track, which was amazing as it’s quite a massacre of the original song… He offered to come to the studio to re-record it, so that it felt even more out.”
The Swedish group also spoke about teaming again with their “Moth to a Flame” collaborator, The Weeknd, with whom they worked on the songs “Sacrifice” and “How Do I Make You Love Me?” on his new album, Dawn FM.
“It’s a match made in heaven,” band mate Steve Angello asserted. “To be an electronic artist and have an idea become complete with a voice such as his…. that’s incredible. He brings so much emotion and energy to the table.”
SHM also revealed how they’re able to net such talent for their songs. “We came from a culture where you create a song and then just fish around for a voice to do it. We have very specific voices in our heads,” said Angello. “We custom-make music.”
SHM and The Weeknd will co-headline Coachella this weekend and next.
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