Toxe

Toxe
Toxe at Sonic Acts in 2016
Toxe at Sonic Acts in 2016
Background information
Born
Tove Agélii

1997 (age 28–29)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres
Occupations
  • Producer
  • singer
Years active2015–present
Labels

Tove Agélii (born 1997), known as Toxe (/tɒksə/ TOX-uh) is a Swedish music producer and singer. Beginning her career through SoundCloud, she has since released two extended plays; Muscle Memory (2015) and Blinks (2018), an original soundtrack for The Story Of Leonora (2023), and two albums; Toxe2 (2024) and Bubble Treasure (2026).

Early life and musical beginnings

Agélii was born in 1997 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her parents were both artists, though she has said she had no musical background, using drawing as a creative outlet instead. She grew up listening to artists such as JJ of the Swedish record label Sincerely Yours. At age 14, she attended a music camp for girls, and at the conclusion of the camp performed a Deerhoof song, "The Perfect Me". Her older brother installed Ableton on her laptop, and she made her first track by largely sampling her voice. She has said that she "fell into" music during high school as a result of this.

Career

October 2015, by which time Agélii was 17, saw her release the single "Determina", which had "slippery textures with menacingly sparse, creeping percussion" according to The Fader. She was living an "isolated life" in Gothenburg, though spent time travelling Europe to perform while also working on her high school studies, as she was getting bookings at Sónar, Club To Club, and Berghain. Motivated to join online friends from Tumblr and SoundCloud in real life, Agélii moved to Berlin at 18 years old, there studying art and architecture. She gained inspiration from London electronic collective Bala Club during this time. She released her 2015 debut EP Muscle Memory. In December 2015, she released the song "Xic" on Texan producer Rabit's label Halcyon Veil. This song sampled Britney Spears's "Toxic". When finishing up high school she released a remix of Slipknot's "Psychosocial", which she said was her "graduation song".

After leaving high school, she appeared at the Way Out West festival in August 2016; Dazed reported that she played "hard-as-nails industrial club music, screeching rap, hardstyle tempos, and leftfield R&B." By this point, she has also joined fellow musician Kablam at Drömfakulteten, a Stockholm-based music studio space. She was listed as one of The Guardian's "20 under 20" of teenage musical talent that September. She performed a Boiler Room studio set.

In 2017, she released a mix with The Fader which featured a piano intro, string melodies, and vocals from Aaliyah, and also released an audiovisual project, Morning Story, in collaboration with The Vinyl Factory, performed alongside artist Niclas Hille. Acne Studios' Spring 2018 womenswear fashion show used Agélii's music.

On 22 June 2018, she released an EP, Blinks, on the label PAN, self-described as "a fractal bloom of candied melodies and minor laments set in a sweep of frenetic rhythmic scenes". "Big Age" was a pre-release single. Exclaim! gave the EP an 8 out of 10, calling it "considerably more skeletal and deliberate". October 2018 saw Agélii opening for British musician Actress at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center; this was her first American performance.

In 2019, Agélii collaborated with Berlin-based producer Mechatok on the project Emiranda and released the EP My Face. In 2021, her music sound-tracked the short film The Story Of Leonora, which was later released by the record label PAN. In 2023, Dior used her music at a fashion show.

2024–present: Toxe2 and Bubble Treasure

By 2024 Agélii had moved to New York and had graduated with an architecture degree. Her thesis was titled "The Publicity Of Domestic Space & Illusions Of Intimacy", focused on the public sharing of one's private life online.[non-primary source needed] During her study she had written and produced Toxe2, her debut album. A single, "Som En Sol", released in June 2024, was listed as one of Vogue's contenders for song of the summer in 2024. Its music video features Agélii fighting her own alter ego in the snow. Toxe2 was released in August 2024 via Swedish multidisciplinary label Year0001. Mixmag described the album as "a bright and emotive body of work that combines Toxe’s innovative production techniques with a melodic sensibility".

Agélii remixed music for the Smerz remix project Big City Life Edits. In 2026, she self-released the singles "Wishing Well" and "A Girl Who Needs a Brain", announcing her next album Bubble Treasure for 15 September 2026. The 10-track, 23-minute album is her second solo album and her first album in the English language, mainly featuring love songs. Music from the album saw use at the New York COS Spring 2027 fashion show.

Personal life

Agélii has a boyfriend from Key West, Florida in the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Borrelli-Persson, Laird (15 September 2026). "Toxe's Latest Album Bubble Treasure Is Dream Pop for Pirates". Vogue. Retrieved 24 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cliff, Aimee (18 May 2016). "Meet Toxe, The High Schooler Behind Sweden's Gutsiest Club Music". The Fader. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bulut, Selim (22 August 2016). "Meet the brutally brilliant DJs destroying your dancefloors". Dazed. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  4. ↑ Cliff, Aimee (13 October 2015). "Swedish Producer Toxe Breaks Down Walls With "Determina"". The Fader. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Wheeler, Seb (21 August 2024). "The Mix 027: Toxe". Mixmag. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hayes, Byron (19 June 2018). "Toxe: Blinks". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  7. ↑ Cliff, Aimee (18 May 2016). "This Deranged Slipknot Remix Is For Angry Teens Everywhere". The Fader. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  8. ↑ Fox, Killian; Morris, Damien; Cragg, Michael; Bromwich, Kathryn; Snapes, Laura; Rogers, Jude (4 September 2016). "20 under 20: music's teenage talent". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  9. ↑ Cliff, Aimee (21 February 2017). "Fader Mix: Toxe". The Fader. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 Kent-Smith, Jasmine (2 June 2018). "PAN to release new Toxe EP, 'Blinks'". Mixmag. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  11. ↑ "Actress + Toxe". Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  12. ↑ Joyce, Colin (26 July 2019). "This Mechatok Mix Is Like a 'Little Party Inside Your Brain'". Vice. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  13. ↑ Agelli, Tove. "Tove Agelii". Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  14. ↑ Borrelli-Persson, Laird (2 July 2024). "What's the Song of the Summer? Here Are 22 Contenders". Vogue. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  15. ↑ Sun, Benny (9 September 2026). "Toxe announces new album, Bubble Treasure". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 24 September 2026.