ShitKid

Swedish musician Åsa Söderqvist crafts abrasive yet compelling anti-pop under the ShitKid moniker, drawing on lo-fi, synth pop, and garage-punk textures that deliberately blur distinctions between disorder and melody. After five relentless years of nonstop creation, she declared the project’s termination in 2020. Ahead of that shutdown, she assembled the final album Sort Stjerne!, gathering unreleased recordings drawn from multiple stages of the endeavor.

Raised in Kramfors, Söderqvist left northern Sweden at sixteen and moved to Gothenburg, where she produced her earliest lo-fi material. For a period she performed with a feminist post-punk group, though stage appearances often triggered anxiety that she eased through alcohol. In 2015 she uploaded several home-recorded solo pieces made with makeshift equipment and an aging computer setup; issued independently as ShitKid, the tracks mixed raw edges, sharp wit, and an off-kilter allure built from rudimentary drum-machine rhythms, guitars, bass, and household sounds. The material attracted broader attention, prompting her to contact Stockholm’s PNKSLM Records, which issued the debut single “Oh Please Be a Cocky Cool Kid” and the self-titled EP. Gaining confidence onstage, she toured Europe throughout the rest of 2016. Early the following year brought both the second EP, 2, and the first full-length, Fish. A third EP, This Is It, appeared in 2018 and was succeeded the next year by singles such as “SuMmEr BrEaK” and “RoMaNcE.” Adding bassist Lina Ericsson turned ShitKid into a duo; together they cut the 2019 EP Detention. While touring the United States they also worked in Los Angeles and Austin on what became a double EP. Issued in January 2020, the eight-song Duo Limbo​/​Mellan Himmel å Helvete contained four new tracks presented in both English and Swedish versions. The year proved prolific, yielding the full-length 20/20 ShitKid as well as the soundtrack album for the film Always Amber. A planned U.S. tour was scrapped amid COVID-19 concerns, after which Söderqvist announced the end of ShitKid. Although she confirmed no further original material would emerge, the double album Sort Stjerne! compiled leftover recordings from throughout the project’s lifespan and appeared in June 2021.