Shortly after Avicii’s death in 2018, Geffen A&R Neil Jacobson spoke to Variety in an interview and called the music Avicii had been working on his “best music in years.”
“We were working on it and it was his best music in years, honestly. And I know because I [A&R’d] all of his albums,” he said at the time. “He was so inspired. He was so psyched. We had done a month of grinder sessions. We had to actually put end times on the sessions because Tim would just work for 16 hours straight, which was his nature. You had to pull him out. Like, ‘Tim, come on. Go to bed. Get some rest.’ It’s just a tragedy. We have this incredible, magical music.”
At the time, the fate of this collection of music was uncertain. His family, father Klas Bergling and mother Anki Lidén, retained control of his estate, including his music. Now, they’re creating the Tim Bergling Foundation, the goal of which will be, among other things, to support organisations that prevent suicide. A final album of Avicii’s work, TIM, will also be released this year.
In a new interview with Dagens Nyheter, friends and co-producers on the album Kristoffer Fogelmark, Salem al Fakir, and Albin Nedler describe Avicii’s state of mind after retiring from touring.
“It felt like Tim was coming back to life,” said al Fakir.
And yet, some songs suggested there was a darkness underneath.
The first single from the album, “SOS,” out this Wednesday, April 10, contained lyrics like, “Can you hear me – SOS! Help me put my mind to rest…” and ”I don’t want to be seen in this shape I’m in, I don’t want you to see how depressed I’ve been.”
“Tim talked about the lyrics as if they were in the past. A period which had been difficult that he had moved on from,” remarks Fogelmark. “When I hear these songs now I can’t stop thinking, hell – is this how he was really feeling? Could I have done anything?”
“SOS” will certainly stir up some emotions in fans – it’s out Wednesday. The full album TIM comes out June 6 and contains 16 never before released Avicii songs.