INTERVIEW
Alice Gee | 25/07/2025
For Zara Larsson, Midnight Sun is as personal as it gets. From the peaks and troughs of life to newfound confidence, Zara has little time for negativity and misplaced opinions. With her heart fully committed, the album is a reflection of personal growth, ambitions, and the intimacies of life.
Writing her new album felt more important than ever. It’s a chance to be open and unapologetic, and to continue connecting with the fans who mean so much to her through honest storytelling and an unwavering commitment to self-expression.
When we sit down together, Zara is back in Stockholm after our cover shoot. I ask if she get homesick as I would, if I were on the road so much. Yet she admits she’s actually pretty good with new people and places. “I have the worst memory in the history of mankind- I don’t remember anything. So, when I'm not home, all I think about is what I have in front of my nose, which is such a huge advantage when you travel as much as I do, because I'm very present.”
She credits much of that to having ADHD, an ability to mentally stay rooted in the moment. But she quickly admits that if she allowed herself to constantly think about those she loves most, it would be tough.
“There’s nothing like your own bed,” I reply, and she laughs in agreement. When we shift the idea of true comfort, it’s clear that Midnight Sun is about more than just familiarity but also feeling at ease in your own skin. Letting go of the chains and anxiety that so often come with society’s expectations.
“I think you come to know yourself more when you grow older,” Zara reflects. Like many, she couldn’t wait to become certain versions of herself, eager for the evolution that comes with age. “But I’ve grown to not care as much.”
It’s now about accepting who she is at her core, the same values she held since childhood, many of which have always been tied to music.
“Music has always been what I wanted to do, even back then. It's not just about the music, it's about what I believe in. I’ve always been very strong in my beliefs. I’m stubborn in a good way. When I know something feels right to me, I stick with it. I remember I had all these characteristics being very young.”
For Zara, Midnight Sun represents a journey of growing back into herself, the girl she knew from her youth, with each song more personal than fans may have never seen before. Having released two songs so far, Zara admits ‘Pretty Ugly’ with its thumping bass and quirky attitude was the track she wanted to shout from the rooftops, “I wanted it to be sexy, but unapologetic. ‘Midnight Sun’ is more like a love letter to life.”
Neckless, Lag World.
Many of the songs on the new album curiously ask the question: Why? Why are you doing it? Who are you doing it for? Is it for yourself? To prove you're worthy? Is it for validation? Others remain introspective, reflecting on what it means to grow older and come to new realisations.
“I guess we’re all a little retired inside, and that’s kind of what Midnight Sun is about. It’s about going back to my roots.”
Zara has reached an age where she can be nostalgic about childhood, really reminisce on how she used to feel, always keeping herself in mind. “This project is the ‘most me’ thing I’ve ever done. Which makes sense, because I made the whole thing with a small group of people, I felt totally comfortable with.”
Many of the songs, she tells me, started as conversations, naturally evolving into melodies. “It all felt so easy, because I felt so seen. I feel like being seen and going back to those younger years highlights that life was a little lighter.”
What strikes me most about Midnight Sun is its focus on the complexity of human nature — our personalities, confidence, vulnerability, depth, and growth. With my thirties right around the corner, I’ve never felt bigger shifts around who I am at my core or connected with my younger self in ways I never thought I would. Midnight Sun seems to encourage exactly that kind of reflection.
Zara seems to have found a safe space to embrace those vulnerabilities, but I’m curious: is there’s a line between being open and protecting her space?
“I've been a very open person for a very long time.” she tells me, “Before making music professionally, I used to have a blog that I used to write on a lot. My whole life has been connected with other people from the beginning. They are all ways of opening up and telling people about yourself and your thoughts.”
For Zara, sharing how she feels, what she believes in and how she sees the world isn’t about simply wanting to talk about herself. “I think it's really a way of connecting with one another. We're so much more alike than we think. Whatever reality we grew up in or experiences we lived through, is so much like relatability.”
Zara admits the worst feeling at times, is being alone. “Even though I love alone time and I spend a lot of time alone, I don't feel that good mentally when I'm alone. I start to get lost in my thoughts and think about things, but I can't get any clarity. Our thoughts need to exist in a dialogue, much like journaling. When reading your thoughts back, it’s like reflecting a conversation.”
In the studio, she often begins sessions with conversations, like what she read or saw in the morning, and how it made her feel. Writing is therapy. It’s where she opens up most.
Earrings, LAG WORLD. Ring, MAISON LUMIERE.
“I think creative people have to be unafraid of letting someone into your head a little bit, because it allows people to see how you live. This is who I am,” she says. “Sometimes I even get nervous when there’s someone you don't know that well in that space. So much of what we do is vulnerable. You have to keep practicing to get more comfortable with it.”
That sense of ease comes from staying non-judgmental toward others and herself and hoping that openness is mirrored back. “Don’t make it too hard on yourself.”
I ask if making the album felt as light and joyful as the music sounds. “It’s been really fun. I feel I’ve been seen.” That sense of being understood came from working with people on the same wavelength. “When you have that kind of connection, everything feels natural. There’s this unspoken and understanding. It’s rare and really special.”
We get into the idea of valuing chemistry, something we don’t talk about enough. Honouring the vibes became a quiet mantra in the studio. “I value vibes higher sometimes than actual talent, because I need someone to bring out my best self and my talent. That can only happen when you feel really comfortable with someone, and that’s when the best version of yourself comes out, so honouring the vibes is so important. I think the fans will see the evolution.”
Watching someone thrive is a kind of emotional release. It’s exactly what Zara hopes her fans will tap into. “I picked songs that felt right sonically by visualising the whole story. I loved it, it’s felt so fulfilling.”
The album took three years to create, a time she used to fully fall in love with the music. But knowing when a song is truly finished? That’s still a challenge. “I struggle with that a lot," she says. “Because in my head, I feel like it could always be better. There’s always a voice saying that we can write one more song.”
“When we did ‘Pretty Ugly’ and ‘Midnight Sun’, we did a third song on the same day,” Zara recalls. “I remember we asked ourselves is this a fluke, or is this really something magical that happened? It turned out, it was magic every time.”
Instead of getting lost in endless writing sessions, she trusted her instincts. “I sat down and said, “I love ‘Midnight Sun.’ I love ‘Pretty Ugly.’ Put them to the side and put them on the album immediately. Boom, we’ve got two songs already.”
In total, they had ten tracks, then made ten more. “Some I swapped out for one reason or another,” she explains. “Then we reached a point where we should leave it as it was. We had the album.”
In the past, Zara would keep writing until she had a scattered collection of tracks. “It got very messy,” she explained. “This time I was like, we have it. We don't have to add anymore. Honestly, though, it would be easy to still be working on the album. I'd just be stuck in the process forever.”
That’s when the outside perspective helped. “Sometimes you need that outside voice to say, ‘This is ready.’ And the truth is, I can still keep creating. I can still make more music. It’s not like this is the final album, and I’ll never make one again. Nothing’s ever going to be perfect, but this album is better than the last one, and the next one will hopefully be better than this.”
There’s a quiet strength in the emotional tone of Midnight Sun, with contentment running through its core. In a world constantly demanding more, the album feels like a confident declaration of enough.
“I hate being misunderstood,” Zara says. “I just wanted a connection. I want someone to understand me. I'm the type of person who truly values conversation, regardless of one's beliefs. I will hear you out, but even if I don’t agree. It can be easy to be misunderstood online. That’s why it’s helped me to not be as present as I was in the past few years.”
She’s honest about the toll that digital engagement can take. “I've had arguments and fights with people in Threads when they've said nasty things. It does affect you emotionally. But when I have conversations in real life, with rational people and friends, it gives insight into others and even myself. That is just who I am born to be. I never really had to find my voice.”
Zara laughs a little. “I used to be the girl who always got into trouble with my teachers. I would always talk back to everybody. I'm loud and noisy. I want everybody to hear me out.”
As she’s grown, that fire has evolved into ground conviction. “The older I get, the stronger and deeper my roots go. I know so clearly what I think, where I stand. So, I’m allowing myself to be more nuanced, to hear people out. We need to be able to engage in meaningful conversations with each other. I will always take that conversation in real life. I find it fascinating because I truly love people. We have so much to relate to each other.”
That curiosity comes with a cost. “People will come at you with aggressive and harsh energy or comments. It gets personal to a level where it's just a lot of anxiety and feels like the whole world is against you, even though it's not true.”
“I have so much respect for people who truly give their lives to a cause, like activists who are fighting, because it does take a toll on your mental health,” Zara reflects.
She’s spent over a decade in the public eye, and it's not lost on her how exhausting that can be. There's a balance between letting things bounce off and internalising them, something easier said than done.
“When somebody reads something about themselves, especially negative, it's strange not to take that in. It's just how we were wired. We want to be part of a community where we feel seen and accepted,” she says. “When you have comments calling you ugly or stupid, you might say, I don't care, but your brain still sees and processes it. Even if you’re not aware of it right now, it will still show up later in some ways, especially if you see a lot of it.”
You can only drown out so much. What may appear to be a small wave always has the potential to become a tsunami. I ask how she’s protects her mental space in all of the noise.
“I would not be as happy as I am if there weren't people around me. That's the most important thing ever,” Zara says. “I've very good, rational people around me, who can pull me out of my head. It’s really about doing stuff with people who makes me feel good.”
She describes herself as someone with a naturally sunny disposition. “I've always been a very happy person. That's just the way my brain was wired, luckily,” she says. “I'm also very forgetful, so even with things that are hard, I'll forget about them really quickly. I'll move on.”
Speaking of joy, we turn to the mini explosive moments that light up your soul, a theme that runs throughout Midnight Sun. For Zara, those sparks are stitched into every beat and lyric of the album.
“Whenever I see a really beautiful sky, that makes me so happy. It makes me emotional, sometimes it even brings me to tears,” she says. “The sun rises and sets, always changing, every day by seconds. I love the beauty in it, especially a Swedish summer night. The sun never really sets. It's just a long sunset that melt into a long sunrise. It's the most beautiful thing.”
By choosing to focus on those everyday moments of beauty, Zara finds her own sense of balance, a kind of grounded clarity in a chaotic world. Her confidence and unapologetic honesty have opened the space for what may be her most authentic work yet.
Creative Kiera Simpson @kiers
Photography Kiera Simpson @kiers
Styling Grace Power @graceepower_
Hair Tommy Stayton @tommystayton
Mua Sophia Sinot @sophiasinot
HATC Alice Gee @alicesgee
BTS jack wales @madebyjwales
Set Design Annie Alvin @_annie_alvin
Movement direction Lee Jay Hoy @leejayhoy
Location Stine Kaus & Benji Weinberger from DDRE Global House Serene@ddre.global @benji.weinberger @stinekaus
Words Alice Gee
Top, J PHOENIX LONDON. Mini Skirt, stellaxingyi. Earring, XHENXHEN JEWELLERY. Earrings, LAG WORLD.
Earrings, XHENXHEN JEWELLERY.
