Swedish alt-pop innovator RIVER releases her haunting new single "I AM CANCER"
Swedish alt-pop artist RIVER returns with her haunting new single “I AM CANCER”. A raw, poetic exploration of emotional defence mechanisms, the song is also accompanied by a visual that deepens its hypnotic impact.
Opening with ghostly synth textures and gradually unfolding into a dreamlike landscape of shimmering guitars and intricate percussion, “I AM CANCER” is a bold and intimate portrait of a fractured self. RIVER’s airy, aching, and emotionally charged voice floats through the track, evoking the disorientation of living with unresolved inner wounds.
“‘I AM CANCER’ reflects an infected mind trying to love and receive love through a wall of defence protecting it from vulnerability — and therefore love itself,” RIVER explains. “It communicates frustration around the inability to cure or hide an ugly mind stuck in false self-beliefs, believing it’s unworthy of true love.”
Raised in Gothenburg and now based in Sweden, RIVER is a boundary-pushing alt-pop artist whose music explores grief, identity, and the complicated beauty of being human. Drawing from a rich palette of influences including Portishead, Mazzy Star, Prince and FKA twigs, her songs fuse cinematic instrumentation with fiercely introspective lyricism.
Originally a quiet and stage-shy child, RIVER’s journey into music began as a secret, sparked by the loss of her father at 17 and nurtured in private moments of piano-playing and record-digging. Since then, she’s become a uniquely visionary voice in Sweden’s underground, known for her emotionally charged performances and genre-blurring soundscapes.
Following a period of travel, addiction, and eventual recovery, RIVER’s work now reflects a reclamation of selfhood and truth. Her debut EP ‘We’ll Be Together’ introduced themes of sexuality and performance, but her new material goes deeper, confronting trauma, shame, and the possibility of healing.
DISCOVER RIVER