Karen Marie Ørsted speaks with enthusiastic warmth. She giggles between almost every answer and is so humble to the point where you might just question her sincerity.
But MØ, the moniker she trades under, is on a whirlwind promo tour in support of her recently released debut EP, Bikini Daze, and to consolidate the buzz that Internet tastemakers have already bestowed upon her.
The Danish singer can easily be forgiven for feeling the slightest tinge of jet lag. Speaking down the line from Sydney, where she has just performed at the Good God Small Club, Ørsted will soon jet off to the other side of the world for Iceland’s Airwaves conference in Reykjavik.
“It’s amazing that you can fly from Denmark to the other side of the planet and have a crowd there cheering for you, and it was sold out,” gushes the singer when asked about her first ever performance on Australian soil.
While Ørsted states that there are no future plans to tour Australia, the singer doesn’t shy away from the possibility of coming back.
Positive reviews are flying around thick and fast for MØ, with whispers of the Dane being the ‘next big thing’ uttered in the same breath.
“I still haven’t released an album,” retorts Ørsted at the idea of her buzz-induced worthiness.
“It’s amazing that you can fly from Denmark to the other side of the planet and have a crowd there cheering for you”“I just hope the album will live up to people’s expectations. I just feel very lucky that people relate to what I do.
“The music business is changing all the time. I just hope that if you’re honest in your music and what you do and you follow it then things will turn out good.”
The singer is doing more than just hoping. Behind her modesty she slips in hints about “sleepless nights” and a “lot of hard work”.
Ørsted is nowhere near as naïve as she might appear to be. She has a background in international touring as one half of the electronic punk duo MOR, who played shows across Europe and New York during their five-year tenure.
“That was super fun,” remarks Ørsted of her time in MOR.
“I think it developed me into who I’m today. I’m really proud of that background although it was very trashy music.”
Trash no more. Ørsted switched her musical energy back to pop music after making such songs since she was a young girl.
“I just think I had an urge to make pop music which was still cool,” laughs the Dane.
While there are no traces of punk to be heard in her music, it has carried on through her aesthetics. Ørsted sports a tomboy image, and speaks proudly of this in interviews.
“I think it’s very important that you’re just yourself,” urges the singer.
“If I was not to have this image then I would be a horrible artist because I would be something that I wasn’t and I wouldn’t like to do that.
“I’ve been an actress and stuff and been in this punk environment for so many years. It would be weird if I wasn’t still being honest about that. That wouldn’t make any sense.
“It’s so important that you’re yourself,” she reiterates.
Is that what’s missing from modern pop music, though?
Ørsted treads lightly on her answer. She began with what appeared to be a statement about “big pop stars” before quickly retreating to “it’s hard to say”.
It’s her honesty she strives so hard to adhere to that transcends her image right through to the lyrical aspects of MØ.
“It is very much what I feel and what I think that people around me feel,” says Ørsted of her songwriting.
The issues that people around her experience are discussed regularly in MØ interviews. Her perspective on how the Danish people struggle with depression because of the incredible opportunities available to them is also a popular topic.
“People don’t know how to embrace (the opportunities) because it’s a big pressure and everybody wants to have success so everybody becomes egocentric and are very ‘ahh want to do good’. I think that’s a big pressure for a young person.”
But how did Ørsted herself overcome such a problem?
“I’m lucky that I have music because that’s my way of expressing myself and getting it out,” she responds.
“We all need to express ourselves. We all need something to shout for.”
“I’ve been an actress and stuff and been in this punk environment for so many years. It would be weird if I wasn’t still being honest about that. That wouldn’t make any sense.”That expression on Bikini Daze comes in the form of themes of youth and the transition between your teenage years and adulthood.
“It’s very much about the restlessness and the longing for something that you don’t have,” remarks Ørsted.
You can expect something similar from her forthcoming debut album, which she expects will be released in early 2014.
“The album will be a contrast between bangers and ballads, but it will also include the previous singles.”
Although, Ørsted is keeping her cards tucked away for the time being.
When asked if the album would feature any more collaborations, like ‘XXX 88’ featuring Diplo or her work on Aviici’s ‘Dear Boy’, she simply replied with a laugh. “Well, maybe. We’re not totally done yet.”
But her humility creeps forward once more as Ørsted shies away from making any grand proclamations about the album.
“It’ll be good I think,” she begins before quickly adding, “I hope”.
Ørsted is no doubt fully aware of the dangers of announcing the strength of an LP before it’s even finished.
Regardless, the singer is far from the arrogant type – although, maybe she should take some cues from her punk background and worry a little less about such small follies.
MØ looks set to move beyond the initial buzz in 2014. Once that time comes, it might take just a little more work to stay so incredibly humble.
Bikini Daze is out now through Sony Music
