With just over a month to the release of Avicii’s posthumous album TIM, his team shared the second single off the album titled ‘Tough Love’. As one of the many unfinished tracks that Tim left behind after his tragic death last year, ‘Tough Love’ was 80 percent completed and features production by Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir. Also known as Vargas & Lagola, the duo had previously worked with the late producer on hits like ‘Hey Brother’, ‘Silhouettes’, ‘Without You’.
A video was uploaded on Avicii’s YouTube channel sharing the story behind how the track came together, featuring interviews with producers Fakir and Pontare. Pontare recalled how Tim had excitedly called him from the studio after playing the demo to Chris Martin, who also agreed that Pontare should sing on the track. Tim had also expressed his wish that the song is a duet. In one of his notes he wrote, “Coolest thing would be a real couple. Or a couple that has worked together enough to be almost considered a couple!”. His wish was granted as Pontare’s wife and a singer herself, Agnes, featured on the song as a guest vocalist.
‘Tough Love’ is starkly different from the previous release ‘SOS’ featuring Aloe Blacc on tropical melodies. ‘Tough Love’ is largely inspired by Bergling’s study on Northwest music of India. Talking about the song, Pontare wrote,
“Oddly enough, the Indian influences fit perfectly into a song we were working on, something that was so typical of Tim. He was a melodic genius.”
Listen to Tough Love by Avicii:
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