Aloe Blacc: ‘New Avicii collaboration is bittersweet’

Singer Aloe Blacc had no idea Avicii had been working on a new collaboration for the pair until months after the dance superstar died.
The I Need a Dollar hitmaker features on the Swedish DJ’s first posthumous single, SOS, six years after teaming up for 2013 chart smash Wake Me Up.
However, Aloe admits he didn’t get the chance to reconnect in the studio with Avicii, real name Tim Bergling, before he committed suicide on 20 April, 2018, and his producers only discovered plans for the new tune when they were checking through his detailed notes about his final project.
“I was brought in after Avicii passed, unfortunately,” he told TMZ. “I started recording in January…
“I found out that basically in his notes for what he was putting together for this album… he wrote in his notes that he really wanted to hear my voice on it.”
Aloe announced the release of the single in a touching post on Twitter on Wednesday (10Apr19), with the song featuring lyrics like, “Can you hear me? S.O.S./Help me put my mind to rest.”
Many fans suspect the track reflects Avicii’s state of mind at the time of writing the lyrics, and Aloe is proud to play a part in encouraging those with mental health struggles to seek help, although he regrets the fact that the superstar passed away before he could do so himself.
“I think that it’s really important for a voice as huge as Avicii to be able to say something like, ‘I need help’, and it gives so many people who are feeling powerless, who are struggling with their own issues of mental health or addiction, gives them the words and the courage to stand up and say, ‘Help me out, I’m not doing well.’
“For me it’s bittersweet because the song really does offer those words; I just wish he would have taken his own advice.”
SOS will feature on Avicii’s new album, simply titled Tim, which will be released on 6 June (19). Proceeds will benefit the Tim Bergling Foundation the Tim Bergling Foundation, which plans to focus on supporting people and organisations working in the field of mental illness and suicide prevention. Officials also hope to tackle issues relating to climate change, nature conservation, and saving endangered species.