Avicii Takes the Wheel

Sweden is more than meatballs, Dragon Tattoos, and home-assembly furniture. Among the Scandinavian country's finer exports are Avicii and Volvo; the two are partnering for what can best be described as a beautifully haunting commercial.

Filmed on-location in Sweden and the desert of the American southwest, The clip features an introspective-looking Tim Bergling reflecting on his meteoric rise to fame by looking at flocks of birds, cozying up on his couch, and hosting a dinner party with his mom at which he raises a glass of water to toast everyone else's wine. It also features an Avicii cover of "Feeling Good," the song made popular by Nina Simone, first dropped online a few days ago.

The spot premiered last night at Downtown LA's Austere, a showroom/gallery/store of Swedish wares, where Bergling and Volvo mingled with a small crowd as cocktails and small bites were passed. Avicii himself confessed to being tired, having stayed up late the night before working on a track. Which is to say the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2013's True, will not be ready in June as previously expected, but later this year.

No worries, though. Avicii is busy with his residency at XS Las Vegas, a music industry conference in Sweden this June staged by his team At Night management, and enjoying the luxuries of the safest cars on the road.

This is the first global campaign in over 15 years for Volvo and the fact that Avicii was chosen as its ambassador speaks to the perception of his personal brand's universality. As for how Avicii's young fanbase will embrace a car that is usually known for appealing to soccer moms (at least in North America) remains to be seen. Then again, interpolating another classic tune from the American songbook might do the trick. Don't moms like "Wake Me Up" too?

Avicii on SoundCloud // YouTube