Soul Saturday: Little Dragon’s Fredrik Wallin talks new album, love for Detroit’s music scene

The soulful Swedish dance pop quartet Little Dragon is headed to Detroit this week for a performance at St. Andrews Hall on Sunday, Oct. 8.

But it’s not the first time the group has visited the Motor City.

“Been a couple of times actually,” Little Dragon bassist Fredrik Wallin told Soul Saturday host Nick Austin, adding that the last time they were in Detroit they got to meet the great Bobby Womack.

“We had the luck and the privilege to share a tour bus with Bobby,” he said, calling Womack a “Legend.”

Wallin, who met his bandmates in high school, attribute’s Little Dragon’s lo-fi electronic sound to a variety of musical influences, from jazz, hip-hop and R&B to experimental music and even Motown.

Listen: Little Dragon’s Fredrik Wallin talks new album, love of Detroit music scene

“We’ve listened to a lot of Slum Village and J Dilla,” he said, noting the group’s appreciation for Detroit’s hip-hop and electronic music scenes.

Little Dragon released its seventh studio album, “Slugs of Love,” over the summer — a project the band started during the pandemic. Wallin said the inspiration for the album’s title and title track came from — of all places — a nature documentary.

“There’s these leopard slugs, and when they mate they climb up to a tree and then they like intertwine kind of, like a circus kind of thing,” he said. “It looked very sci-fi and beautiful and weird. So that was the title for that track. And then we liked it so we used it for the album.”

In addition to Wallin, the band consists of keyboardist Håkan Wirenstrand, drummer Erik Bodin, and singer-songwriter Yukimi Nagano — whose upbeat and optimistic melodies and distinctive, soulful voice ties together the group’s synthy electro-pop sound.

Little Dragon will perform at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8 at St. Andrew’s Hall, 431 East Congress St., Detroit. Tickets start at $35.