Olsson Loves Frank Ocean Just as Much as Everyone Else in the World

Swedish producer and vocalist Olsson doesn’t like to leave a lot of time between his releases. “I want to release as much music as possible. I just want to release song after song after song,” the producer said. “I just want to get things out there because I’ve been sitting on this for quite a long time. If I could, I would release it tomorrow.”

After working on tracks for the better part of three years, he released his new EP, Hold On, in late August. The EP and its first single of the same name sound indebted to pop music and the trip hop and house stylings of the mid 90s.

The producer’s next project includes his debut album. Olsson says it is the culmination of years spent creating and collecting beats and images like a visual and auditory mood board for his music. “I’m really good at starting up stuff, but not finishing up things so that’s my focus right now: finishing up the last three or four tracks on my album,” he said.

For the latest edition of “The Last Record,” the producer selected a collection of recent pop and r&b smashes and revealed secrets about one of the biggest album releases of the year.

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Blonde by Frank Ocean

I’m not the only one in the world who had been waiting for that album. I think he’s the sickest guy around. I’ve been listening to it constantly since it came out two weeks ago. It’s growing like a cancer on me. It’s crazy. It’s growing on me everyday. For me, right now, it’s the biggest thing. I’m pretty obsessed with his album.

I ran into Yung Lean and it’s funny because he’s on the album. When you look at the images of Frank Ocean now, it’s like he ripped Yung Lean’s look with his color hair. It’s pretty funny.

A friend of mine who co-produced the next single that I’m releasing worked on a song together with Martin Gore of Depeche Mode for Frank Ocean. He came back from New York, where we were supposed to work, with a demo of [Frank’s] song “Solo” which is on the album. That is what they worked on for about two days. He couldn’t sleep after that. It was like the only thing he talked about. He played me a version of that–an early version of that song–and I’ve had that melody in my head for two years. I heard it once. It’s so sick. I was like, “What is this song?” And then when [the album] was released, I spilled coffee on myself. It’s the same vocal take and everything.

[Frank’s] been working hard everyday, probably. He’s been working his ass off for three-and-a-half years or something. I think he’s also testing people, you know. Like how much can they take?

For All We Know by Nao

She’s fantastic. I just discovered her. I saw her playing a couple of weeks ago at a festival here in Sweden. She was amazing. That album is incredible. She took this song and developed it and made it an amazing album. One, I love it. It’s the best r&b that has come out of the U.K. in a long, long time.

There’s this song called, “Get to Know Ya” and a song called “Fool to Love,” … they’re just amazing. I’ve been waiting for that type of album. The vocals on it and the production are sick. I got really, really inspired and I don’t get inspired that much with other new stuff.

Love & Hate by Michael Kiwakuna

I loved his first album which was very folky. With this one, I got really happy and surprised that it sounded like a big change from the first album. I just love it when artists evolve. I know a lot of people don’t. When you’re a fan of an artist, sometimes you want them to do the same thing over and over again, which I think is fucking boring. I love that he’s been doing this.