waterbaby is Stockholm’s swooning singer-songwriter

waterbaby has had a bit of a nightmare this week. Just a few days ago, she had to have emergency dental surgery; the morning of our interview, dogs were called to her building in Stockholm to sniff out bed bugs.

“Can you believe they have dogs for that? Luckily I don’t have any bed bugs, but I haven’t been able to stop scratching my body since,” she says, shuddering over Zoom. ​“As for the surgery, the pain is starting to creep in, but I got to keep the teeth!”

All is well, then, not least because waterbaby is also gearing up for the release of her debut EP, Foam, a gorgeously constructed five-track project exploring the trepidation of new love. ​“I could be your last love and you could be my first /​For you, I’d do the things that I said I’d never do for no other”, she sings on stand-out track 911, before melodically emulating an ambulance siren in the chorus: ​“We-ooh, we-ooh, we-ooh”.

“Foam has grown slowly but surely over a three year span,” the 25-year-old says. ​“I worked with [producer] Marcus White and it took us a while to find ​‘it’, but I think we did. Before, I would have described myself as a very open person, but I’ve come to learn I’m not at all. Music helps me express my embarrassing feelings – love, that kind of stuff.”

Growing up in Stockholm’s suburbs, waterbaby was hugely influenced by her grandfather, a jazz pianist. When she was nine, her mum encouraged her to apply to a classical music school. waterbaby wasn’t so keen – she wanted to be in Destiny’s Child, not sing in a choir. ​“I really grew to love that kind of music in the end, though, because all I’d ever known was R&B, garage and neo-soul,” she continues. ​“Then I started writing my own stuff, which I’ve been doing ever since.”

Has she still got her eyes set on Beyoncé-level stardom? For now, waterbaby just hopes her EP elicits some kind of emotional reaction in her listeners, whatever that may be. ​“It doesn’t really matter how they feel – I just want them to feel something, to relate,” she says. ​“When someone can put words to your feelings or thoughts that you can’t quite figure out for yourself, that’s amazing.”

10% Where were you born, where were you raised and where are you now based?

I was born in… Where the fuck was I born? Somewhere in Stockholm. I was born and raised here, and I’m still here. I think I’ve lived in thirteen different places, literally on all sides of Stockholm. I’ve been around!

20% What’s a bad habit that you wish you could kick?

Oh my God. Do you want a fucking list? I’m addicted to ice, but I love it so much that I don’t want to quit. So I’m not gonna say that, even though it fucks up my teeth from crunching on it. I haven’t admitted it to myself yet, but vaping is a bad habit I wish I could kick. I can stop. I can quit.

30% What’s a piece of advice that changed your life?

My friend said the other day: ​“Never expect or assume that people have their shit together”. I’m such a messy girl, so I always assume that I’m the worst and that no one else is messy, that they all have their shit together. But people literally don’t and that’s fine.

40% If you were cooking food to impress someone, what would you make?

I actually made my mum a menu today for her birthday. So, I would probably make some sort of pasta, with chicken, mushroom, garlic, lemon and parsley. Or fufu, the way my dad makes it.

50% If you ruled the world for a day, what would go down?

How much can you really get done in a day? I’m really indecisive. Fucking hell, there’s just too much to fix, I don’t even know where I would begin. I’m worried that whatever I say, in some alternate universe it’ll become true and have some kind of butterfly effect that’ll fuck everything up. So I’m going to say nothing.

60% Love, like, hate?

I love my family and my younger siblings – I’m obsessed with them. I like the Swedish summer. I hate toothache.

70% Number one holiday destination?

I’ve been dreaming of the French Riviera for a really long time. I’m actually going in the summer!

80% What’s the most pointless fact you can share?

I was recently in Singapore doing back-up singing and apparently it’s illegal to sing in the streets in front of people.

90% If you could travel back in time to see an iconic music act perform, who would it be?

Maybe The Jackson 5 or just Michael Jackson.

100% What can artists do to save the world?

This goes for everyone and not just artists specifically, but I wish that people would be nicer and less judgemental. If you don’t have something nice to say, shut up. That’s all.