The first song from Avicii’s posthumous forthcoming album, ‘TIM’, has been released. The track, ‘SOS’, is the first taste for fans of what to expect from the late Swedish DJ’s upcoming ablum, ‘TIM’, which is scheduled for release on the 6th of June 2019.
The track, ‘SOS’, features vocals from Aloe Blacc, who has previously collaborated with Avicii before on the single, ‘Wake Me Up’. In a statement, Blacc said: “I feel like ‘SOS’ was a song that was probably ahead of its time for when he wrote it. He wrote these lyrics obviously about some of his battles and I think it’s a really important topic to approach and to share, especially with his visibility and his access to ears and hearts. To give people the words to be able to say ‘I need help.’ I remember when we did ‘Wake Me Up’, that was huge and that was the moment that defined the real impact that he had on music.”
Avicii, whose real name was Tim Bergling, was found dead in his hotel room, in Oman, on the 20th of April 2018. It was later confirmed that the 28-year-old DJ and producer had taken his own life. Avicii was honoured at a memorial service in Stockholm in November 2018, seven months after his death, where hundreds of fans gathered at the city’s Hedvig Eleonora Church to join his family in paying tribute to the late star.
The release comes after, last week (April 5), Avicii’s family announced details of the posthumous album. It was confirmed that a new record, titled ‘TIM’, would go ahead and would arrive, on the 6th of June 2019, featuring tracks that the producer was working on before his death. The songwriters he had been working with at the time “continued the process to get as close to his vision as possible.”
In a statement, Avicii’s family said: “When Tim Bergling passed away on April 20, 2018, he was close to completing a new album. He left behind a collection of nearly finished songs, along with notes, email conversations and text messages about the music.
“The songwriters that Tim was collaborating with on this album have continued the process to get as close to his vision as possible. Since Tim’s passing, the family decided not to keep the music locked away – instead they wanted to share it with his fans all around the world. The single SOS will be released on April 10 and the album, titled TIM, on June 6. Avicii’s net proceeds from the album will go to the non-profit Tim Bergling Foundation and the purposes it will work for, among other things, to prevent mental illness and suicide.”
Confirming that the proceeds from the album would go to the Tim Bergling Foundation, which Avicii’s family launched last month. The non-profit will focus on mental health and suicide prevention to begin, but there are plans to expand its reach with initiatives to help climate change, endangered species protection, and nature conservation.
Speaking about the new album, President of Universal Music Nordic Region, Per Sundin, said: “Two months after he passed away, we started to say OK, how can we do this, how can we honour him as much as possible with these 16 songs.” Avicii’s dad, Klas Bergling, added: “Tim’s mother and I decided Tim’s music should be released to his fans and to people who want to listen to it. We don’t want it to be locked in.”
