Source: Hungermag.com

SWEDEN – From latex dominatrix to lovelorn poet, Swedish provocateur Cobrah opens up about her debut album, Torn, mud baths and deciding when and when not to say ‘fuck’.

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“The most powerful woman in the world”, I hear the crowd buzz between songs at Cobrah’s London gig. Drenched in latex and oozing sex, the singer has the crowd wrapped around her three-inch acrylics. When she re-emerges on stage for the ‘GOOD PUSS’ finale, her expressive movements are like a snake charmer’s incantation, begging her ‘Serpents’ to join her in hypnotic dance. More Bacchic ritual than concert, they eagerly oblige.

Based on her on-stage fearlessness and lyrical dominance, you might expect Cobrah to be as intimidating in person as she is on Instagram. In actual fact, the Swedish singer is softly spoken, with gentle mannerisms and an infectious giggle. Our interview pre-amble mostly consists of the singer graciously listening to my Hinge horror stories. When talk turns to her upcoming London show, she excitedly gushes about being asked about her reason for travelling by airport security, and getting to say she’s “doing a real show!” Behind the black latex ensemble she sports in London’s 34 degree heatwave, Cobrah is exceedingly humble — just one of the girls.

Now 974 BDSM Songs on Spotify list! Likes and followers are very welcome 🙂

If you’ve listened to Torn, this shouldn’t come as a huge shock. For her debut album, Cobrah has shed her dominatrix skin and leaned into a new, more vulnerable era. While songs like ‘Dog’ remain as sultry and gothic as her previous works, others (think: ‘Charming’) make you blush for a different reason. It’s “crying at parties” music, like she spits on ‘Hit Girl’ — as introspective as it is venomous.

And Cobrah is, rightfully, very proud of the record. A true labour of love, the artist fully immersed herself into the world of Torn as Creative Director. She tells me about having to wash mud out of her hair with ice water at 3am after shooting the ‘Dog’ music video. She wrote seven versions of the same verse for ‘Charming’. She even brought her on-screen alien lover, Puppy, (seen in her ‘Hush’ video, amongst others) along with her to Paris Fashion Week. Torn is the album that nearly consumed Cobrah. Now, she tells me she’s excited to consume it.

How’s life been since Torn went out into the world? 

It was a long, very emotional process, so I was very keen to see how it would be received once it was out. You’re not supposed to look at the streams, but as an artist, you want people to listen to the whole album, and I think that’s what the fans have done.

 How’s the tour going? Are you excited for your London show? 

So excited! Because I have a busy schedule, I don’t look into things I’m doing ahead, so I didn’t know how big the [Kentish Town] Forum is. And it’s huge. I’m doing a real show!

You started writing the song ‘Torn’ back in 2023. Did you struggle to find consistency writing an album over a period of years?

The point of Torn was to be more multifaceted in my writing. I just had this ambition to show that I can do everything. [But] how many genres can you put in an album and make it consistent, and where does my take on music fit in? It also took so long because I tried to get the videos right. When I told [the original director] my ambitions, like, ‘We’re getting a car, and there’s an alien boyfriend, and we’re in a club and then we’re in a hotel room… And here’s the budget’, everybody was like, ‘Cool. Maybe for your next album’. And then I found Julius [Hayes] who did all the direction, and he very much DIY-ed something that ended up looking very professional.

“I would get questions like, ‘What’s your favourite sex position?’”

Some of the songs on the album are proper club anthems, but songs like ‘Torn’ and ‘Charming’ are more vulnerable and a bit softer. How do you feel they fit together? 

I think they fit together because they’re honest and direct. I don’t try to write around things. I think it’s important to write your [own] songs because people follow the artist. A good pop song you can hear everywhere, but the artist’s mind is what makes you a fan of someone.

The album is a lot more lyrically poetic than anything we’ve heard from you before. How has your writing process evolved?

It was a challenge not to say ‘sex’ [so] many times, or ‘cunt’. For ‘Charming’, for example, I wrote seven different verses. It was very much back and forth, thinking, ‘Can I say this? No, it’s too graphic. No, it’s too personal’. Finding the limit between when I say ‘fuck’ and when I don’t say ‘fuck’ is quite difficult. I don’t know if I’ll ever do an album that is so experimental and introspective again.

What pushed you in that direction? 

You know what? I was doing interviews like this, and I would get questions like, ‘What’s your favourite sex position?’ I felt like people didn’t realise I was a more well-rounded artist. It sounded like I did something very niche, but in my head, I didn’t do anything very niche at all. [I’d covered] everything about chains and whips, and [I thought] there must be more that can be said. That’s not how I want to be as a person — just capitalising on what I already know. It’s not fun.

You very enthusiastically stepped into the world of Torn as Creative Director. What’s that been like?

It was the most rewarding thing. It was the most fun just making moodboards — it’s like having a Tumblr. But I think where it does become hard is when you have a vision and you want to film in Greenland in an ice castle but you can only afford fake snow in a studio. That’s where you have to really get creative.

Where do you find inspiration for your music videos?

I love making food and drinks and TikTok is the best place for tutorials, but every now and again I would see an edit of a movie. There would be this cool sound in the background and you just fall a little bit in love. Whenever I saw [things like] that I was like, ‘I want the album to feel like this‘. I wanted all of the videos to be very cinematic, like a trailer or a Bond movie or something.

“You don’t ever think about the tit glue and the mud all over their hair.”

How did you go about making that happen?

I don’t think [I’ve] mentioned it in any interview before, but we [filmed] ‘Dog’ and ‘Hush’ in January [over] three days, and I slept four hours in those three days. To make that kind of quality with the kind of budget that I had, we had to work twice as hard or even more. It was in Georgia, it was January, and it was cold. We only shot in abandoned places because it was [cheaper], so it was freezing and I [was] in a teeny-tiny latex dress. It takes a toll on your mind a little bit. The more effort I put into it, the more vulnerable I became for how it would be received. I’ve never put myself in such a hard-working position ever.

Well, you don’t look tired or cold, so I’d say it was a success.

When we shot the ‘Hush’ video, we wrapped up at 3am, and then I had to get all of the mud out [of my hair]. [We] had to drive a trailer with a shower in it, but the warm water wasn’t limitless, so I would get buckets in with ice water. I remember as a kid, I would always think, ‘Oh, these pop stars have it so easy’, because the videos are so glam. You don’t ever think about the tit glue and the mud all over their hair.

You’ve been to fashion shows like Dilara Findikoglu and Matières Fécales this year. Are those the kind of designers who inspired the fashion in Torn?

I think so, but those are the kind of designers that would inspire me when I was 10 as well. When you see your specific little interests on this very elevated scale it’s incredible. But for the album I was really inspired by skin — that’s why we did the skin dress and everything’s very beige. I think, as soon as you draw inspiration from something that is happening in culture right now — like a dress or a song — you risk not having your own take. When you’re a creator, you have to really be honest with yourself and think, ‘Is this really me, or is this something that I’ve seen that I just liked?’

Talk to me about the use of latex, too. That’s always been a big pillar of your fashion identity.

When I was a cool little goth kid, I was really uncomfortable with being a girl. Being girly meant being very soft and uncool, and I was like, ‘I’m cool and I’m strong’. And then when I tried on latex for the first time at this photographer’s house, I was like, ‘Oh, this is me’. It’s soft, but it’s not ‘fuck me‘ soft, it’s ‘I’ll fuck you‘ soft. I felt like a woman, I didn’t feel like a girl anymore.

“It’s soft, but it’s not ‘fuck me’ soft, it’s ‘I’ll fuck you’ soft.”

What do you want people to take away from listening to Torn?

I just want people to like the music. I don’t like to be too much in control of the [reception]. I think it’s more magical when you hear a song and it gets its own meaning. It’s totally up to the listener.

So, what’s next?

I’m excited for the Europe tour — it’s gonna be fun to see European fans. I’m in the studio, so I’m excited for new music, but [Torn] is actually very fresh, so I’m just excited to consume it.