Say My Name

"Say My Name" is a song by Swedish singer Tove Styrke from her third studio album Sway (2018). It was released as the album's lead single on 28 April 2017 through Sony Music. The song was written by the singer, Elof Loelv and Tinashe "T Collar" Sibanda, with production by Loelv. "Say My Name" is a minimal electropop song with a prominent ukulele riff that Styrke convinced Loelv to integrate as a central part. She described the song as musically and lyrically different from the material of her previous studio album Kiddo (2015), and explained that working with Loelv helped her evolve her sound. "Say My Name" received positive reviews from music critics, who noted its simplicity and praised its catchiness. Music magazine Rolling Stone selected the single as the eleventh-best-song of 2017, as well as the 91st-best-song of the 2010s decade. It was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 2017 Musikförläggarnas pris award ceremony. Commercially, the song managed to peak at number 85 on the Swedish singles chart, and marked Styrke's return to the chart following a six-year absence. The song's accompanying music video, directed by Daniel Skoglund, portrays the singer in colorful and simple sets with infinity mirror effects. Background For her third studio album Sway (2018), Tove Styrke wanted to "strip down production" while keeping the songs "interesting" with "[their] own I.D.[s]". She said "it's important to keep production sparse but make each song special". In the summer of 2016, Styrke met with Elof Loelv and Tinashe "T Collar" Sibanda for a session that resulted in "Say My Name" being written. It was the session's first conceptualized song to be finished. Initially, Loelv presented the song's eventual bass line, which made Styrke burst into laughter as "it wasn't even a beat, it was two notes", she revealed to Out. While writing, the trio were experimenting with various metaphors for saying somebody's name, including "Wear it out like a sweater that you love", which became part of the chorus. Styrke enjoyed the lyric to the point that they began forming the song around it, stating that the lyric "really set the tone for the whole thing". Loelv came up with the ukulele riff by accident and was reluctant to include it, but Styrke liked it and had to convince him to integrate it as a central part of the track.