SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA, LYKKE LI Release New Single 'Happiness Is So Sad'
The track was recorded in Stockholm and produced with PARISI and Fred Again.., with songwriting from Max Martin and Oscar Holter.
SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA has released a new single, 'Happiness Is So Sad,' featuring Lykke Li, marking the first collaboration between the two Swedish acts. The song is now available on major streaming and download platforms.
The track marks the first collaboration between the two artists, bringing together two of Sweden's most influential musical exports. 'Happiness Is So Sad' explores the relationship between happiness and sorrow, how memory can hold both at once, and the pleasure of a moment sitting alongside the knowledge that it now exists only in the past.
Produced by Swedish House Mafia, PARISI and Fred Again.., the single was recorded in Stockholm and features Max Martin and Oscar Holter, among the track's songwriters. It received its world premiere with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 on Thursday 30 July.
The single is Lykke Li's first new material since her sixth album, The Afterparty, released in May. It follows a summer of performances including Coachella 2026, a headline show at KOKO London, and a performance at the Odeion of Herodes Atticus.
The release lands mid-residency at Ushuaïa Ibiza, where the track has already become a defining moment of the summer's sets. Steve Angello most recently joined Sebastian Ingrosso at Tomorrowland 2026 to play the track during his highly anticipated set.
It arrives ahead of the group's two landmark homecoming shows at Gothenburg's Ullevi Stadium on 28 and 29 August, Swedish House Mafia's largest concerts to date.
SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA - LIVE DATES 2026
Ushuaïa, Ibiza - every Sunday until 13 September
28 August - Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
29 August - Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg
27 September - Portola Festival, San Francisco
11 October - Head Trip Festival, California
LYKKE LI - LIVE DATES
08/14 - Way Out West Festival - Sweden
08/16 - Flow Festival - Finland
08/22 - Pstereo Festival - Trondheim, Norway
08/27 - Rock en Seine Festival - Paris, France
08/31 - Superbloom Festival - Munich, Germany
09/19 - Palacio de los Deportes – Mexico City, MX** w/ Robyn
10/3 - Austin City Limits – Austin, TX
10/10 - Austin City Limits – Austin, TX
ABOUT SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA
Formed in 2008, Swedish House Mafia— Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso— quickly established themselves as one of the most influential acts in electronic music. They brought house music to arenas, bridging club culture and global stages through bold production, uncompromising live shows, and a clear artistic vision. The trio were the first electronic act to headline and sell out Madison Square Garden (2011) and the first to close Coachella's main stage (2012). Their singles 'Save the World' and 'Don't You Worry Child' earned GRAMMY nominations and multi-platinum certifications. Rolling Stone described their rise as 'redefining rave culture,' and NME called them 'the rockstars of the dance music world.' Their record-breaking One Last Tour was followed by their surprise set as headliners of Ultra Music Festival's 20th anniversary in 2018. The following year, they launched the Save The World Reunion Tour and shifted their focus toward a new priority: their first full-length studio album. Released in 2022, Paradise Again was the result of nearly two years in the studio. The group rebuilt their sound from the ground up, drawing on analog synthesis, experimentation, and collaboration. 'We needed to find sounds in the studio we had never heard before,' said Steve Angello. 'This is one of the most exciting times for us. We're having fun like 15-year-olds again.' The album featured contributions from The Weeknd, Sting, A$AP Rocky, Ty Dolla $ign, Seinabo Sey, and Fred again. It debuted at #1 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart. Songs like 'Redlight,' 'Frankenstein,' and 'Don't Go Mad' pushed the group into new territory both sonically and structurally. Critics praised the scope of the work. Pitchfork described the album as 'richer in texture and grander in scope than previous releases.' NME awarded it four stars, calling it 'a reclaiming of their title' and writing simply: 'it slaps.' The group headlined Coachella alongside The Weeknd in 2022, a performance The Guardian called 'off the wall.' The album's lead single, 'Moth To A Flame,' became a global hit, reaching gold or platinum status in nine countries and joining Spotify's Billion Club. The group also co-wrote and co-produced 'Sacrifice' and 'How Do I Make You Love Me?' on The Weeknd's Dawn FM, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. The Paradise Again World Tour followed, covering 29 cities in 11 countries across two continents. During this period, the group also released the single 'Turn On The Lights again..' with Fred again.. and Future. In 2023 and 2024, Swedish House Mafia returned to the stage with key performances at Tomorrowland, Brooklyn Mirage, and their first-ever Ibiza residency at Ushuaïa. They also released a series of new singles: Ray of Solar, Lioness featuring Niki & The Dove, and Finally featuring Alicia Keys. In 2025, they launched Superhuman—their new creative home and label. It began with Flood, Sebastian Ingrosso's first solo release in eight years, followed by No Enemies, a collaboration between Ingrosso, Steve Angello, and Namasenda. Superhuman will serve as the primary platform for future Swedish House Mafia releases, as well as a launchpad for a new generation of emerging talent.
ABOUT LYKKE LI
Internationally acclaimed artist Lykke Li has spent nearly two decades shaping a singular lane in pop: one defined by emotional extremity, melodic precision, and a fearless intimacy that has made her one of modern music's most enduring voices. Since breaking out with her debut Youth Novels (2008) and achieving mainstream success with 'I Follow Rivers,' Li has cemented her reputation across the critically beloved Wounded Rhymes (2011), I Never Learn (2014), So Sad So Sexy (2018), and the immersive audiovisual album EYEEYE (2022), continually returning to the fault line between love and heartbreak, destruction and creation.
Her new album, THE AFTERPARTY, marks a bold reinvention. Writing from streetwise insight rather than romantic fantasy, Li stages a confrontation with mortality, hedonism, and impermanence—soundtracked by disco-glowing strings, gospel brightness, and Balearic warmth, even as the lyrics fixate on loss, futility, and the search for meaning. At just 24 minutes, the album is exacting and unsparing, what Li calls her 'existential era': a study of shame, survival, and joy held together by sheer will.
Written in Los Angeles and recorded in Stockholm with a 17-piece string section, multiple drummers, and numerous singers, THE AFTERPARTY is both her most triumphant and most despondent work to date: a dance record for the end of the world, and a radical new grammar of honesty in pop.
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The single arrives during Lykke Li's run of summer performances following the release of her sixth album, The Afterparty, and lands in the middle of SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA's residency at Ushuaïa Ibiza. The group is scheduled to play two homecoming concerts at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, described as its largest shows to date, before further dates including the Portola Festival in San Francisco and the Head Trip Festival in California.
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