Before his death last year, Swedish producer Avicii (né Tim Bergling) was in the final stages of completing a new album. Now, thanks to friends and collaborators, that project, simply titled TIM, will see an official release on June 6th.
Fans received an early listen with April’s “SOS” featuring Aloe Blacc. Today brings a second preview in “Tough Love”. The track was produced and written by Avicii alongside Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir (Vargas & Lagola), who’d previously worked with the global producer on past cuts like “Hey Brother” and “Without You”.
According to a statement, “Tough Love” features a melody loop inspired by Avicii’s trip to India. “Oddly enough, the Indian influences fit perfectly into a song we were working on, something that was so typical of Tim,” Pontare said in a statement. “He was a melodic genius.”
(Read: 10 Songs That Get Real About Mental Health)
Avicii passed away having finished about 80% of the track, but left notes on how he envisioned it eventually turning out. “This one needs to be a duet,” his notes read. “Coolest thing would be a real couple. Or a couple that have worked together enough to be almost considered a couple!”
Fulfilling Avicii’s wishes, Pontare enlisted his wife, Swedish artist Agnes, to sing with him on the final version, which is an engaging, whirlwind of a number.
Check out “Tough Love” below, followed by a “making of” video.
TIM follows Stories from 2015. Along with helping to put out the album, the producer’s family launched a foundation dedicated to mental health and suicide prevention on the one-year anniversary of Avicii’s death.
Avicii’s body was found on April 20th, 2018 in Muscat, Oman, where he had been on vacation. An autopsy later revealed that the 28-year-old artist had taken his own life.