Estrus is the sixth studio album by the Swedish singer Tove Lo. It was released on 18 September 2026, through her independent record label, Pretty Swede Records.
Background and development Estrus was recorded across sessions in Los Angeles, Stockholm, and a small Swedish village where Lo spent part of her childhood. During the album's early development in late 2024, she struggled to write material that felt authentic, explaining that she was "in the middle of some kind of personal metamorphosis" and found it difficult to express herself creatively. She later resumed her work on the project in the secluded Swedish village with producer Ludvig Söderberg, where they worked without distractions and began shaping the album's direction.
The title of Estrus derives from the biological term for a reproductive cycle in mammals, which she used to frame the record's instinctive and feminine perspective. Lo described Estruss concept as being driven by conflicting emotional and physical desires, and added that the album offers "a lot of feelings, no solutions". She created the project primarily with collaborators, including Söderberg, Elvira Anderfjärd, and Luka Kloser, while Belgian musician Stromae appears as a featured artist.
Promotion Lo announced her sixth studio album, Estrus, on 11 May 2026, sharing its cover artwork and track listing. Same day, she also unveiled its lead single, "I'm Your Girl Right?"; it was released on 13 May along with its Nogari-directed music video that was filmed in São Paulo with 70 dancers. In support of the album, she will embark on its accompanying tour, which is set to began on September 15 in Nashville at the Pinnacle and conclude on November 19 at Avicii Arena. Mallrat (North America), Rose Gray (UK and Europe), and Cobrah (Brooklyn) will serve as a supporting act of the tour.
She released "Des Fleurs", with Stromae, on 12 June 2026.
"DHN" was released as the third single off the album on July 29, 2026.
Critical reception
Estrus received positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 74 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
AllMusic's Heather Phares writes that, "Despite her [Lo's] personal changes, Estrus doubles down on everything that defines her music. Lo makes a full return to the dance floor after Dirt Femme, fueling the album's beats with lust, jealousy, and self-doubt.", however adds that "[Estrus] isn't as decisive as her best work, Lo is still an expert at chronicling messy, vulnerable, defiant femininity -- and at making complicated feelings catchy."
Writing for Beats Per Minute, Mary Chiney praised the album and called it "the most grown-up record she [Tove] has made". She criticised however the length of the album calling it a "limitation" and something that causes "a certain unwillingness to finish thoughts."
Phil Taylor of Clash writes that the "songwriting is top class on almost all of this album’s tracks" yet pointes out that some of the tracks feel like they were "little less considered" than the others."
Michael Savio from Slant Magazine named Estrus "frenzied emotional terrain [that] can occasionally leave one feeling a little cold." Pitchforks Aimee Cliff lamented that "Estrus doesn’t always sound as liberated or unexpected as that description promises."
Track listing
Notes signifies a co-producer. "Des fleurs" is stylised as "des fleurs x stromae". All songs are stylized in lower case, except the word "I" and the initial letters.
Personnel Credits are adapted from Tidal.
Tove Lo – vocals, background vocals Alex Ghenea – mixing Jack Normile – mixing assistance Randy Merrill – mastering A Strut – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming (1–3, 5, 8–13) Jeremy Lertola – engineering (1–3, 5, 8–13) Johan Malmberg Hector – guitar (2), bass guitar (13) Shellback – drums (2) Max Grahn – guitar (3) Oscar Görres – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming, engineering (4, 7); guitar (7) Stromae – vocals, background vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, programming (4) TimFromTheHouse – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming (5, 9, 10) Oscar Holter – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming (5) Elvira Anderfjärd – background vocals, bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming, engineering (6) Luka Kloser – background vocals, bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming, engineering (6) Tove Burman – background vocals (6) Johan Salmonsson – background vocals (10) Tailtiu – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming (11) Charlie Twaddle – background vocals (12)
Charts + Chart performance Chart (2026) Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 32 Portuguese Streaming Albums (AFP) 200 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 13
Release history + Release dates and formats Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Various 18 September 2026 Pretty Swede
Notes
References