TOXE—real name: Tove Agelii—first made waves online in 2015 with “Cix,” a remix that refitted Britney Spears’ ode to toxic love with punishing kick drums, sharp synths, and a general sense of dread. Since then, she has been one of the most intriguing producers and DJs working. Her releases for the Berlin label PAN have encompassed everything from ghostly club deconstructions (“Honey Island”) to hyperactive peak-time material (“Perfect 2”) to a soundtrack album, The Story of Leonora, that’s all breathy loops and field recordings. You can often spot her on lineups with artists like Mechatok and Oil XL—a larger scene of DJs whose impeccable taste allows them to run with an anything-goes attitude and pull it off.

When her single “Som En Sol” came out earlier this summer, it marked a new direction for the artist. Over bouncy electro-pop, TOXE’s vocals take center stage for the first time, and in her native-tongue Swedish nonetheless. Her debut album, Toxe2, was released on Year0001 in August, a Stockholm-based label associated with fellow Swedes Yung Lean, Drain Gang, and Varg. The album is a lovelorn grab bag of electronica, reminiscent of the quirky pop that was percolating in her hometown of Gothenburg in the 2000s.

I caught up with TOXE to chat about the music that shaped her.

Who was an important musical influence on you growing up?

TOXE: The main reason I started making music was because of my older brother. He put me on to a lot of music and downloaded Ableton on my computer. He really believed in me, which I am very grateful for. 

What kind of stuff did your brother introduce you to?

Everything from Korn to The Tough Alliance. I was already listening to a lot of Gothenburg artists like Håkan Hellström and Broder Daniel, but my brother really put me on to electronic music. When I was thirteen I got really into Ed Banger Records and that era of French electronic music, and my brother also introduced me to The Tough Alliance, The Embassy, all the stuff on the Sincerely Yours label. And of course The Knife. I actually went to the same highschool as Karin and Olof Dreijer (from The Knife) in Gothenburg. But yeah, there’s something specific to that Swedish poppy electronic sound that is still in what I do. 

Any particular artist, album or song that had a big impact on you?

The Tough Alliance’s debut The New School, I love that whole album. I recently re-discovered their discography, specifically the song “A New Chance.” There’s something I really like about their squeaky voices accompanied by these raw and sweet pop melodies, similar to Hellström, Broder Daniel, and Nordpolen. But I was never a hardcore fan of one specific artist though—apart from my Mr. Ozio phase. I just loved how his music always felt like a soundtrack to an absurd movie. His music was aggressive but goofy, so dumb but catchy, like “1$44” or “Stunt.” I don’t know why I was so obsessed with that!

Did you ever feel like part of a subculture when you were younger? 

There was nothing really going on in Gothenburg when I was a teenager. I was born in 1997 so I wasn’t really part of the Broder Daniel and The Tough Alliance era. It was a bit of an awkward time, I felt very isolated and alone here. I didn’t have any friends who were into the same things as me, so that’s why I was so online I guess.

Who was the first person who put you on? 

The first people I started working with was the Staycore collective in Stockholm. I became friends with them through SoundCloud, I was DJing and they started booking me when I was in high school. The first person I first spoke to in the group was Mechatok because my brother showed me his mix one day after school and was like, “he’s your age you should talk to him.” But that whole thing [Staycore] scattered after a while. It was beautiful at the time, but everyone went different ways. 

Who is a person who helped you develop creatively?

A big creative partner has been Mechatok, for sure. I lived in Berlin for six years and he was the closest person in my life there. The way he sees music and works made a big impact on me. We have very different sounds but we rub off on each other in a cool way. Definitely want to shout out Mechatok. 

What scene, if any, do you see yourself as part of now? 

I’ve been kind of isolated for the past four years. I’ve been living in Amsterdam and studying so it’s been a long time since I lived in a place where I was surrounded by people doing similar things. I feel a bit disconnected from everything to be honest. I see things online and stuff, but I’m really not sure where I would place myself. On my new album I’m singing so maybe people will place me in a different category than before? I really don’t know.

Your new album Toxe2 is out on Year0001 and you often appear on lineups and remixes with artists from the label like Ecco2k, Bladee, Varg. That seems like a scene you are a part of? 

Yeah that’s true, I knew of Yung Lean and Drain Gang when I was a teenager because we had friends in common, so they definitely feel like they’re in the same world as me even though we are a bit separated. I really like Bladee and his songwriting, I’ve always looked up to those guys and their way of working. I always thought they were cool. I guess it makes sense I’m on Year0001.

What were some reference points for the new album? I can really hear The Tough Alliance and The Embassy.

I listened to the bands you mentioned when I was a teenager but haven’t listened to them in a long time. Once I finished the album and started showing it to people I started getting that response though, so I kind of rediscovered that music afterwards. But while making it I didn’t listen to much Swedish music—not much music at all actually. I’ve been in my own world. 

Why did you start singing in Swedish on this album? 

It sort of just happened. I started humming over songs and singing nonsense words and a lot of the nonsense sounded like Swedish. There are some sounds in Swedish that really fit my voice like the vowel sounds of “a” and “i.” There’s this really awkward distance I have to the Swedish language. I moved away when I was young and now my vocabulary is a lot better in English. I’m really stiff in Swedish, but that was an awkwardness I was attracted to. It became very simple and direct and captured an innocent, teenagery feeling that fits the songs. 

Non-musical influences?

I watch a lot of movies which definitely has an impact on my music, like with storytelling and how to put together sequences of emotions. I sometimes make music with a movie on in the background while I work and test out the music with different scenes. I love working with different media: film, images, design, space, and whatever. But I like doing it most when it’s for music, like creating an image that is supposed to capture a sound or music videos to enhance the lyrics.