Forever Neverland

Karen Marie Ørsted’s pop ascendance happened so fast, she could hardly catch her breath. A year after releasing her debut album, the Danish singer struck gold with a feature on Major Lazer's “Lean On,” a global hit that broke streaming records and earned MØ collaborations with Justin Bieber, Snakehips, and Charli XCX. Despite pressure to release a follow-up, she wouldn’t be rushed. Instead, she left for Los Angeles to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in California. Her experience was bittersweet. On Forever Neverland—a nod to Hollywood’s obsession with youth—she serves up big, euphoric pop songs that are both soul-wrenching and sunny, and that wrestle to reconcile the city’s natural beauty (“Sun in Our Eyes,” featuring Diplo) with its superficiality (“California, you’re aware that everybody wants ya,” she sings on "Purple Like the Summer Rain”). The album’s lone interlude will resonate with anyone who’s spent time on Sunset Blvd.: “Right now all I want to do is call up my mom/And get my ass out of West Hollywood.”