Tove Lo just played the cutest DJ set ever in Animal Crossing

(Image credit: NintenTalk/Tove Lo)

Cutesy Nintendo life sim Animal Crossing has proven to be the perfect video game for lockdown, offering players a chance to escape from the Covid-19-induced stress of the real world and create their own island utopia under the watchful eye of convivial tyrant Tom Nook.

It turns out that one of the many people who’ve embraced the game is Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo - so much so that, on 18 July, she played a DJ set live from her island.

Tove Lo just hosted a concert in ANIMAL CROSSING?!?!?! pic.twitter.com/bLsX1Gd4IbJuly 19, 2020

She picked six villagers to join her for the performance, asking them to “dress to impress” and design an outfit especially for the occasion. Those who were selected received a Dodo code that granted them access, while the rest of the world had to make do with watching the gig on YouTube via the NintenTalk YouTube channel.

Explaining her love of the game, Tove Lo said on Instagram: “I got hooked on this world at the start of quarantine cause... it’s cute animals and tropical islands lol.”

Any of you babes Animal Crossing it? I got hooked on this world at the start of quarantine cause... it’s cute animals and tropical islands lol. So I’m very excited about the news below!! ⬇️ You can come party like it’s pre COVID at my #AnimalCrossing DJ set, Saturday July 18 at 9pm est. Im picking 6 villagers to join me on the island. BUT! you gotta dress to impress to enter. Design an outfit for your #ACNH character and post with #ToveLoAnimalCrossing to enter. I’ll pick my favorites on Friday and send winners a dodo code for entry 🥳 for more info and rules: https://umusic.digital/toveloac2020 Tove Lo
A photo posted by @tovelo on Jul 15, 2020 at 12:44pm PDT

Could other artists follow suit? Time will tell, but we can’t imagine regular Animal Crossing troubadour KK Slider being too pleased about rival musicians parking their tanks on his lawn. This could get ugly.

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.