Danish Artist MØ Finds Clarity on New LP “Motordrome”

For Danish artist MØ (born Karen Marie Aagaard Ørsted Andersen), life for a while felt something like a hamster wheel. But it didn’t begin that way—not musically.

As a young person growing up in Denmark, MØ first felt the surge of music at eight years old when she first laid ears on the Spice Girls. Before that, she’d let the songs of her mom and dad essentially wash over her. But when she heard the Spice Girls’ LPs, she lost herself in them and listened repeatedly.

Her family is comprised of academics—except for MØ. She didn’t feel comfortable studying diligently, yet also never knew how to make a music career begin early on. Soon, she discovered punk rock, trading in her ambition to be Sporty Spice to be Kim Gordon. She found like-minded friends. Her interests became layered. In her twenties, MØ’s career took off. So much so, however, that burnout found her. Now, at 33 years old, the artist is back with her best work yet—a 10-track LP born from resilience, Motordrome, out on Friday (January 28).