Based on everything she’s already accomplished at a young age, Tove Styrke is the last person one would expect to have some issues to work out. But, offering hope to anyone who’s ever found themselves down in a hole, the Nordic pop star admits that she hasn’t been immune to feeling that, sometimes, it’s all been too much.

Styrke first bubbled onto the Scandinavian music scene as a 2009 contestant on Sweden’s Idol, eventually placing third at the age of 16. That led to a contract with Sony and a slick, eponymous electro-glitz debut that promptly went Top 10 at home.

Building on that success, Styrke returned with 2015’s glossy banger Kiddo, on which she branched out into everything from spliffed-out dancehall to dusty Americana. Opening stadium-tour slots for Katy Perry and Lorde followed, with said superstars talking up the singer as a star in waiting. Further accolades were showered on Styrke for being completely hands-on with her career, including either writing or cowriting her own material.

Still, sometimes all the forward momentum in the world isn’t enough. Even as she was becoming a star, Styrke decided to step back, retreating to her hometown of Umeå, Sweden, and then doing her best to recalibrate. Therapy would prove invaluable.

“I feel like everybody should see a psychiatrist, honestly,” the 25-year-old music-biz vet says, on the line from a St. Paul, Minnesota, tour stop. “They’re there to help you talk out things with yourself. You aren’t ignoring your problems or whatever it is that’s occupying your mind. Instead, you’re letting go of things faster. I recommend that to anybody, even if you’re not at rock bottom.”

A decade into her career, it’s clear that Styrke has definitely got a handle on what she wants to achieve as an artist. The goal on her third and latest outing, Sway, was to mix things up. The Euro-style electro-pop label in some ways still fits, but her new songs place a premium on economy. So even though the opening track, “Sway”, is basically just heartbeat bass and soft-focus percussion, it’s still irresistible, right from when Styrke half slurs “I got a feeling that we got a chemistry/Gimme what’s on your mind.” From there, it’s the little things that count, such as the solar guitar flares in the candy-coated “I Lied” and the rubber-band synths in the admirably restrained “Say My Name”.

“The goal was definitely to strip things back, but the challenge was to make sure that things were still interesting,” Styrke says. “That was the most time-consuming thing about making this album.”

It was equally important to make Sway a personal record, the recurring theme being that relationships are hard. Ultimately, she decided to write what she knows.

“I went into the record thinking that I was going to write about other people, or look at other people’s behaviours to try and figure them out,” Styrke says. “What I ended up discovering was that I was actually getting to know myself. People are so complex. Let’s say that my whole personality is a cake. And in every situation, you have to figure out what piece, what slice, you are going to serve.”

For such observations, Styrke is about as fascinating an interview subject as one could hope for. She’s open to every question, perhaps as a result of those therapy sessions. If she learned anything, besides how to work on herself, it’s that few traits are more important in life than empathy. Except maybe honesty.

“When I’m writing an album or working on a project, I’m looking to find one voice that’s true to me,” she says. “It’s about finding one well-defined slice so the voice is consistent—not scattered and confusing. It has to all make sense, and that makes for an interesting process. What I’ve learned is that it’s fun to challenge yourself.”

Tove Styrke plays the Biltmore Cabaret on Saturday (October 20).