It is 2015, and “Lush Life” by Zara Larsson is playing on the radio. The upbeat track of the song reminds many of summers when they were young. This bright song is Larsson’s most popular song, along with “Symphony,” which features Clean Bandit.
For children, the 2010s consisted of bright colors, sparkles, mystical creatures, and rainbow dolphins. In 2024, TikTok user @heiratet decided to take this style and make a trend out of it, about a decade later. This trend contained a background picture of two dolphins in a rainbow beach scene, comical text as the foreground, and Larsson’s song, “Symphony,” playing in the background.
This trend became massively popular, which eventually gained the attention of the artist herself. The 28-year-old Swedish artist took this trend and aesthetic and ran with it.
Larsson participated in an interview with the Zach Sang Show, in which she explained the trend and her thoughts.
“The song put aside, [with] that aesthetic, I was like ‘I like that,’” Larsson said. “I think that trend also influenced me in this era.”
Whether it was because of her management or by chance, Larsson became popular once again. She released her 2025 album “Midnight Sun,” in the album and the tour, she adopted the style of the Y2K trend. This caught the eye of many on social media, which gave others around the world the opportunity to see her perform.
With her vibrant outfits, backgrounds, and lights, Larsson provided fans the aesthetic they wanted. But it did not stop there.
In October 2025, the song “Stateside + Zara Larsson” by artist PinkPantheress came out, featuring Larsson. Despite it coming out in October 2025, it did not gain its full potential until around January 2025 when internet users on TikTok claimed it. A dance was made, and the song was used in the background of various videos, which allowed its popularity to expand.
In 2022, Larsson had approximately 15 to 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify. As of now, Larsson has 60.8 million monthly listeners.
Larsson was definitely popular before the surge in 2024, but many can agree that this trend helped her “reboot,” as fans like to call it.
Some say that the trend saved her career, and others say that this was all her doing, but regardless, there is no doubt that this is a new era for Larsson.
