SOS (feat. Aloe Blacc) - Single

Editors' Notes It’s jarring to think that before he took his own life, Avicii’s final time in the studio was spent making such breezy music. “SOS,” the first single from his posthumous LP, TIM, is a dance-pop tune, sure—with gentle nods to Balearic beat and a bit of New Wave. But its laidback ’80s soft-rock rhythm—and rich vocals from Aloe Blacc, who helped announce Bergling’s arrival on 2013’s “Wake Me Up”—gives it that unique Avicii touch, pulling from a manner of styles but still hewing to something you can spend a night on a beach dancing to. Then there’s the lyrics, which recount someone trading their drugs for the euphoric promise of a new love, and which open with a shot that invites all kinds of interpretation: “Can you hear me?/S.O.S./Help me put my mind to rest.”