Along with fellow Scandinavians Robyn and Annie, Sweden’s Lykke Li is one of the rare dance-pop ingénues to win the approval of the indie-music cognoscenti. Having burst upon the scene with her charming, if somewhat jejune 2008 debut LP, Youth Novels, the 25-year-old singer returned this year with an edgier, more ambitious sophomore effort, Wounded Rhymes, which has met with widespread critical acclaim. At a sold out 9:30 Club on Sunday night, Li proved a highly capable and confident live performer, delivering a slickly impressive set that showed her poised for mainstream success.

Photo by Kyle Gustafson Swedish songstress Lykke Li had quite a year in 2008. Her debut album, Youth Novels, was released all over the world to great fanfare. Its mix of hip-hop, folk and pop influences, coupled with Li’s sugary sweet vocals, proved irresistible to music fans on both sides of the Atlantic looking for Sweden’s next great music export. Li took time out her busy schedule to chat with DCist on the eve…

Lykke Li (pronounced, roughly, luke-uh-lee) is the stage name for the pixie-voiced Swedish songstress Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson. She started gaining some traction in the states by overstating her fame back in Sweden to promoters in Brooklyn, in order to book gigs. That lead to her dance-friendly debut album, Youth Novels, which made fans all over the place with its collection of sad sad songs dressed up as friendly pop numbers. I first fell in…