On the Verge: Tove Lo hits new 'High' with 'Habits'

Smells like teen spirit: Tove Lo has always been a little rock 'n' roll, it just took her a while to realize it. Raised in a stable, happy household in a posh Stockholm suburb, "I was always fascinated by something that was a bit more dramatic and dark, so I was kind of looking for that," says the Swedish pop singer (born Tove Nilsson). She found it when she started listening to rockers Nirvana and Hole as a teenager and began writing songs of her own — adopting a grunge-inspired look of pink hair and heavy eyeliner, and forming a band in high school with Caroline Hjelt, now one-half of Icona Pop.

Among the 'Clouds': Since then, Tove Lo (who goes by a combination of her real name and the Swedish word for "lynx," a childhood nickname) has channeled her gritty sensibilities into her own brand of self-described "dirty pop," hitting No. 13 on USA TODAY's top-40 airplay chart with Habits (Stay High) and landing an opening spot on the Australian leg of Katy Perry's Prismatic tour in November. Until then, she's headlining her first U.S. tour (which wraps Oct. 5 in Boston) and will release debut album Queen of the Clouds Tuesday.

No love without pain: Clouds is split into three parts, titled "The Sex," "The Love" and "The Pain." Structured to represent the "general patterns of my relationships," the album's first tracks show her cheekier, flirtier side, while later cuts are tinged with a "string of darkness," says Tove, 26. But don't feel sorry for her: "For me, everything that you're passionate about always comes with a little pain. That's how life is and that's how I want to live it. I don't want it to be balanced and ordinary."

Beauty in the breakup:Habits, included in the album's "Pain" section, is an unflinching confessional of combating heartache with substance abuse. The song originally appeared on her Truth Serum EP, released in March and written about one particularly unpleasant breakup. The ex who inspired it has since reached out to her and "was really cool about it," Tove says. "I was like, 'I hope you don't mind,' and he said, 'I actually don't, I think it's beautiful.' "

Double standards: In the Habits video, Tove wanders between bars and clubs in a drunken haze: boozing, smoking, making out with guys and girls, and crying alone in a dingy bathroom at the end of the night. In response, some online commenters "are like, 'You're going to end up like Amy (Winehouse),' " she says. Although she shakes such remarks off, she believes there's a double standard with male and female artists. "A lot of times I get asked, 'Do you feel you have a responsibility to young girls to be a role model?' " Tove says. "I don't see that happening as much to guys. I feel like, just because I'm a girl, I'm supposed to take more responsibility? Is that how it works?"

Late-night noshing: Tove sings of bathtub dinners and Twinkies binges on Habits, but what's her go-to snack when the munchies strike? Chocolate-dipped Oreos, she says. "I usually don't like chocolate, but chocolate gets me then. Otherwise, I like pizza or anything salty."