Not on Drugs

"Not on Drugs"
Artwork for "Not on Drugs". Tove Lo is staring at the camera, with her arms up. At the center of the image, the words "Not on Drugs" are written in red letters, while the name of the artist is written below in white letters.
Single by Tove Lo
from the EP Truth Serum
Released24 February 2014
Recorded2013
Genre
Length3:03
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Tove Lo
  • Alx Reuterskiöld
  • Jakob Jerlström
  • Ludvig Söderberg
Producer(s)
  • The Struts
  • Alx Reuterskiöld
Tove Lo singles chronology
"Heroes (We Could Be)"
(2014) 		"Not on Drugs"
(2014) 		"Talking Body"
(2015)

"Not on Drugs" is a song by Swedish recording artist and songwriter Tove Lo for her debut extended play Truth Serum and her debut studio album Queen of the Clouds, both of which were released in 2014. It was co-written by Lo together with its producers, Alx Reuterskiöld and the Struts. The recording premiered on 24 February 2014 on Swedish radio station P3 as a promotional single from Truth Serum. It was also released as part of Queen of the Clouds however it is not considered part of the promotion for the record, since its other scheduled releases were cancelled in order to promote "Talking Body", the album's second single.

"Not on Drugs" is a mid-tempo pop, EDM, and electropop song; in the lyrics, Lo compares falling in love to being under the influence of drugs. The artist stated that the recording represented the "positive beginning" of her relationships. The track received positive reviews from critics; many of them commended its production and lyrics, especially the chorus, while others considered it one of the best tracks from Truth Serum. It spent two weeks on the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artists chart, where it reached number 19.

A music video for "Not on Drugs", directed by Rikkard Häggbom, was released on 19 August 2014, the same day the availability of Queen of the Clouds was announced. It features the singer performing the song in a white room while computer animation is projected on the background and colored smoke bombs explode around her. Lo performed the track on numerous occasions, including on the by:Larm and South by Southwest festivals, at Notting Hill Arts Club in London and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It was later included on the set list of the singer's first tour, the Queen of the Clouds Tour (2015). Marianne Engebretsen, a contestant on the third season of the Norwegian version of reality singing competition The Voice, covered "Not on Drugs" on 22 May 2015.[1][2]

  1. ^ "Marianne Engebretsen synger i den andre The Voice-livesending". TV2 Norway (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  2. ^ Hult, Kine (22 May 2015). "The Voice-Marianne: – Jeg skal uansett kose meg". Byas.no (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.