"Tough Love" is the second posthumous single by Swedish DJ Avicii, featuring Swedish singer Agnes and Vargas & Lagola. It was released on 9 May 2019, with the music video premiering on 14 May, as the second single from Avicii's posthumous studio album Tim (2019).[2]
Background
Avicii had previously collaborated with Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir of Vargas & Lagola on "Silhouettes", "Hey Brother" ,"Without You" and "Friend of Mine". Avicii had previously worked on the song in 2016 before his last Ultra Miami show.[3] "Tough Love" initially had a different song structure, but was reworked during Tim's final studio sessions in March 2018. Before his death, Tim had sent a message to Salem and Vincent that he wanted the song to be a duet by a "real couple. Or a couple that have worked together enough to be almost considered a couple!" Pontare's wife, Swedish singer Agnes Carlsson, also features on the song. "Tough Love" also features Indian influences from the movie Raanjhanaa (specifically the song Banarasiya) in a melodic passage that was inspired by Avicii studying the music of northwest India,[2] which he had played for Pontare and Al Fakir before his death.[4]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 20. týden 2019 in the date selector. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 20. týden 2019 in the date selector. Retrieved 21 May 2019.