"Sway" is a song by Swedish singer Tove Styrke from her third studio album, Sway (2018). Styrke wrote the song with Joe Janiak and Mozella in Los Angeles. Janiak handled the production with Elof Loelv as co-producer. It was previewed by Styrke while touring with Lorde in the spring of 2018. Sony Music released the song as the album's fifth single on 2 May 2018, two days before the album. Musically, "Sway" is a pop song with electronica influences. Described by Styrke as a love story, the song's lyrics speak of an infatuation and the different feelings associated with it.
"Sway" received positive reviews from music critics, some of whom highlighted it as one of the best tracks on the album. Upon its release, the song appeared below the top 100 of the Sverigetopplistan singles chart, reaching number four on the Heatseeker chart. The Joanna Nordahl-directed music video depicting a queer romance between two skaters earned critical praise and a Grammis nomination. Styrke has performed the song live on numerous occasions, including the Sway Tour (2018).
Background and release
While composing her third studio album Sway (2018), Tove Styrke aimed to create "clean and simple" yet interesting songs. She collaborated with producer Elof Loelv on most of the album tracks in Stockholm, and also worked with British musician Joe Janiak during her stay in Los Angeles. She stated that visiting the city was a refreshing change of environment after working in Stockholm for a year and a half. The sessions with Janiak resulted in the creation of two songs, the title track "Sway" and "On a Level". On working with Janiak, she told 7digital, "He's a really good writer and he comes up with creative ideas that are fun for me. And me being very meticulous it's good to have someone who's not that meticulous and more of a 'feeling' person." The two co-wrote "Sway" with American songwriter Mozella, and Janiak produced the track with Loelv as co-producer. Henrik Edenhed mixed the track and Randy Merrill handled mastering.
In an interview for Billboard, Styrke explained that she intended to open the album with "Sway" and position "On a Level" as the final track. She said, "[T]hey've got something in common, in terms of being bigger than many of the other songs. But it's big in another sense. It's more nighttime, it's a little bit more tight in how it sounds, and a little bit romantic." She described "Sway" as her favorite album track in terms of the emotion it conveys, "It's so sweet. I'm obsessed with it ... 'Sway' is not just the title track; it represents the whole album so well." She previewed the song in concert prior to its official release while supporting Lorde on the Melodrama World Tour in the spring of 2018. The song was digitally released on 2 May 2018 through Sony Music, two days ahead of the album's release. The song was added for airplay on Swedish radio stations on 9 May 2018.
Composition and lyrics
"Sway" is a three-minute and 30-second uptempo pop song with elements of electronica. It features instrumentation provided by drums and handclaps, and begins with the sound of a drink can cracking open. In an interview for Värmlands Folkblad, Styrke characterized the sound of the song as "big" despite the minimal production with few components. According to Owen Myers of The Fader, Styrke uses a double-time vocal delivery. Hannah Mylrea of NME classified her vocals as staccato, while Pitchfork Margaret Farrell wrote that she pauses "to catch her breath between vowels".
Styrke referred to "Sway" as a "very romantic" love story. The lyrics of the song illustrate the protagonist singing to a potential love interest. i-D writer Ivan Guzman, who coined the track an "elated head rush of a song", wrote that its lyrics express the "mixture of anxiety and euphoria that comes with ripping off the band-aid and just kissing your crush". Styrke told Dagens Nyheter that the song is about a friendship that is disrupted by romantic feelings and the subsequent uncertainty of where the relationship might lead. Farrell noted the piece as a "nervous stream of consciousness more than a mating call, capturing the anxiety of being forced to read a vibe". In the pre-chorus, Styrke sings, "I don't see nothing wrong with you and me getting along." She defined the feelings as either "anti-romantic" or "super romantic" and stated that they occupy one's mind no matter how strong.