"Tough Love" is the second posthumous single by Swedish DJ Avicii, featuring Swedish singer Agnes and Vargas & Lagola. It was released on 9 May 2019, as the second single from Avicii's posthumous studio album Tim (2019). The single reached the top ten in Sweden, Norway and New Zealand.
Background Avicii had previously collaborated with Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir of Vargas & Lagola on "Silhouettes", "Hey Brother" ,"Without You" and "Friend of Mine". Avicii had previously worked on the song in 2016 before his last Ultra Miami show.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Tough Love" initially had a different song structure, but was reworked during Tim's final studio sessions in March 2018. Before his death, Tim had sent a message to Salem and Vincent that he wanted the song to be a duet by a "real couple. Or a couple that have worked together enough to be almost considered a couple!" Pontare's wife, Swedish singer Agnes Carlsson, also features on the song. "Tough Love" also features Indian influences from the movie Raanjhanaa (specifically the song Banarasiya) in a melodic passage that was inspired by Avicii studying the music of northwest India, which he had played for Pontare and Al Fakir before his death.
Credits and personnel Credits adapted from Qobuz.com.
Avicii – songwriter, producer, bass guitar, keyboards, drum programming, programming Vincent Pontare – songwriter, producer, programming Salem Al Fakir – songwriter, producer, guitar, strings, programming Sebastian Furrer – programming Kristoffer Fogelmark – vocal producer Isak Alverus – songwriter Marcus Thunberg Wessel – engineer Kevin Grainger – mixer and mastering Sören von Malmborg – additional mixer Julio Rodriguez Sangrador – mixer and mastering Agnes – vocals Vargas and Lagola – vocals
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peakposition Lithuania (AGATA) 33 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) 10
Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 31 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard) 80
Certifications
References