The “Polar Vortex” that shut down the Northern half of the continent for the majority of 2014 is now just one of those things you drudge up whenever your kids complain about having to walk to school. (“You think this is cold? Back in ’14 we put things in the fridge to warm them up!”). It’s warm now, and this is the weather that outdoor festivals grow in, luring music lovers with the promise of lots of bands communing with Mother Nature in harmony.

And that’s awesome, sitting outside in mud and listening to 6 bands at the same time while getting sunburned rules. But it’s important not to forget the clubs. The stuffy, stalwart music venues who were here all winter and will be here all summer –with air conditioning. MØ’s show, which happened at Lincoln Hall, is an example of what a visceral treat a club show can be. Through comparing and contrasting we can see why club shows like hers are the best way to enjoy music.

MØ –which means “maiden” in their native Danish- is a four-human band consisting of electric guitarist, drummer, electo-drummer/computer guy, and, of course, Karen Marie Ørsted on heavily enhanced vocals. The tone is moody and danceable, its music meant to be felt, not just listened to, and Lincoln Hall’s incredible 45-gazillion-watt amps not only make the listeners’ hearts skip on tracks like “Don’t Wanna Dance” but it actually makes geologists in white lab coats grab the red phones in their offices as their seismographs sketch record-breaking tectonic activity. Yes, the big festivals have 20-foot tall towers of speakers stacked on top of each other that require their own nuclear reactor to power, but when most of the noise is floating off into the atmosphere, there isn’t much of a bass kick.

Intimacy is a hallmark of MØ’s sound. Many of her songs are about love or heartbreak, and when she sings them she means it. It’s in her eyes, which you can see in a club because the stage is right there, a short crowd-surf away. MØ takes full advantage of the stage and the venue: she climbs onto the bar, she hops onto the speakers, she disappears for a while then reemerges with an “I’m over here!” and now she’s in the balcony. For her last couple songs she stage dives into the center of the capacity crowd and continues singing- a real pro. She’s set down in the thick of the pit and begins whipping her hair in a small Nordic tornado, creating a circle of standing bodies around her. If she tried that at a festival forty sweaty security guards would bounce her butt back on stage faster than twenty dollars disappears at the beer tent.

For a show like MØ’s, ambiance is key. She has a pre-recorded video that plays in the background and the lighting intensifies with the music for complete audio-visual integration. What you experience in the audience is exactly what the artist wants you to feel, unmitigated by the weather or the mid-afternoon sun shining directly into your eye. Drinks are cheap and the line is short too, even though the show sold out.

MØ ends her encore with a cover of the Spice Girl’s “Say You’ll be There” that has nearly every twenty-something lady in the audience mouthing along. After the show as people file out of the club there are a lot of smiling faces and conversations starting with, “that was SO good!” For under twenty bucks MØ and Lincoln Hall give a first-class show-going experience that may have altered a few people’s whole week for the better -and there is still time to get stuff done before the show and drinks after. Compare that to spending a whole day and a whole paycheck in a park, sweating and enduring a band that sucks so you can be near the stage for the good band. MØ’s powerful performance proves that the club is king, and will be long after the festivals move on.

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What is most striking about MØ, a 25-year-old up and coming artist who has a hard to define brand of alternative pop, is her down-to-earth nature. For someone who’s quickly on the rise to fame, she’s unbelievably normal. I had the chance to talk to the budding musician and performer about her album, youth and how we’re all made of stardust.

Her debut album, No Mythologies To Follow, is a punchy, beat-heavy meditation on youthful uncertainty, a project MØ, or Karen Marie Ørsted, describes as a dream come true. “I’m very, very happy with the album, because you know, I believed in the album”, she says. When I complemented her on the album’s success, which has earned consistently positive praise since its release in March, she gushed a surprised thanks with a genuine sense of warmth.

Perhaps her normalcy has something to do with the fact that she writes all of her own music at her parents’ house in Denmark. Not surprisingly, she places a particular importance on teenage years as a time of both frustration and wonder. In her adorable, unmistakable Danish accent, she asked for clarification on a question about her teenage years, “Oh, my teen years? The teen years have made a huge difference to me, you know, in a good way. I think I learned a lot,” she said, admitting that for her they weren’t always carefree, a fact that has ultimately given her creative fuel.

It’s really almost as if MØ is a high school classmate, spilling out her deepest thoughts over the phone, it feels like a private conversation. It’s also apparent that she’s not afraid to be upfront about her thoughts and beliefs. In fact, she’s developed a reputation for having an outspoken, rebellious attitude, in her musical style and her image, her hit, “Waste of Time”, being the perfect example. She admitted that as part of the punk activist movement in Denmark as a teen, she developed a sense of rebellion and attitude that has carried over to her current, sometimes defiant, girl-power sound.

With those days behind her for now, it becomes obvious that in spite of her public image, MØ is actually quite reflective and sentimental. She oozes a youthful charm, and in a way, a kind of innocence. “Well, I mean like, as much as I have this rebellious, aggressive, energetic kind of side to my persona, I’m also, you know, emotional, I’m very aware of my vulnerable side.”

“I guess I’ve always kind of been a melancholic person,” she continued, “And you know, all the vocals I recorded on my own in kind of a silent place, so that’s a good way for me to kind of get in touch with the feelings that you have writing the lyrics.”

Growing up in Denmark, she gained inspiration from nature and its vastness. “Yeah, well I mean, I get very inspired, or how could you say, moody and stuff like that. Like you know sometimes when you just feel like your surroundings are beautiful? I know it sounds cheesy, but you know, like [on] a walk in the mountains, or if you’re on your own by the countryside, you get this feeling of greatness sometimes, like the world is big and you’re [made] out of matter…but you’re still a part of this big, big thing. This big puzzle.”

Her candor, as well as her approach to songwriting, is refreshing. “New music is coming up”, she disclosed. MØ and her producer, Ronni Vindahl, are already in the process of working on new songs while on tour. Until then, MØ continues to wonder, and to contemplate the stuff beyond the shining success of her album, and her rock star persona. When I ask her how surroundings, such as the city, inspire her music, her voice returns to a thoughtful tone as she said: “It’s more like a ‘what is all this?’ you know? And you can look at it and find it very, very beautiful and kind of weird.”

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The Danish soon-to-be-sensation, whose real name is Karen Marie Ørsted, is just cool. And it’s not simply because she’s super Scandinavian, fashionable and has a great voice. Apparently, it comes naturally to her – in the album’s centrepiece, “Walk This Way,” she belts out, “All my life / I’ve stepped to the rhythm / of the drums inside / Hey yeah yeah yeah.” Unruffled and unapologetic, Ørsted has been compared to Santigold, Twin Shadow and Lykke Li, but maintains her own.

Straight out of a galaxy of glitter and gold, platforms and cool hair, MØ is hardly bursting onto the scene, having released more than a handful of singles and an EP since 2012. It’s more of a slow-burning success hinged upon the genius marketing of a contemporary babe. Whatever the case, she’s going to be big.

It’s hard to imagine that the full-length recording could top the quality of her already released singles, but somehow she’s done it – the album delivers anthem after sparkling anthem.

Her brilliant collaboration with renowned producer and DJ, Diplo, on “XXX 88” shows her versatility with hints of Major Lazer, while the previously unreleased tracks on the album are creative gems, including “Slow Love,” a sultry, echoing ode to Grimes, and “Red in the Grey,” with its solid hip hop groove.

Although on certain tracks, MØ’s moody pout is hardly discernible from Lana del Rey’s, particularly in “Dust Is Gone” as she croons, “Have you kissed the lips of the one you like so hard / you couldn’t stay alive?” Luckily, she makes up for her sad streak with incredibly catchy hooks and danceable rhythms. At times, No Mythologies also plays like a dark and brooding breakup album, and switches to a soundtrack to dancing in the mirror, heavily punctuated with “hey yo’s,” “uh’s,” and “holla’s”.

Despite her glamour-infused ballads, she’s simply real. Amongst a parade of polished, present-day artists, here comes MØ, stripped down and raw, with wild, untamed hair, unkempt eyebrows and a pieced-together grunge look. She’s like your coolest friend who is living life to the max and doesn’t give a damn. Her authenticity thunders throughout the album’s tracks and you can tell MØ is an artist who’s here to make the world a little bit cooler.

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