Sassy 009 by Bryden Bowley
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Sunniva Lindgård a.k.a. Sassy 009 is an Oslo-based alt-pop and electronic artist. Named after an early SoundCloud moniker, Sassy 009 originated as a trio, but Lindgård has been releasing solo under the alias since 2019. Having been raised by two classically trained musicians, her debut album Dreamer+, releasing January 2026, is a beautiful amalgamation of her diverse musical references, using grunge and shoegaze to explore themes of identity, memory and dreams.
Six years into Lindgård’s solo status, working on Dreamer+ has pushed her creative independence to new heights, allowing her to take the reins on production across the record. “I felt ambitious stepping into the project before really starting on it,” she tells Dazed about opting to self-produce. “I do feel proud now I’ve finished it because of how difficult it has been – it’s been such an amazing learning experience for me. I know now for a fact that I can do it on my own, and that being an option is actually quite freeing.” The independent writing process has undoubtedly contributed to Dreamer+ feeling strikingly intimate, as Lindgård pulls the listener through her reality and her dreams.
The artist’s discography is filled with stellar collaborations such as Clairo and Vegyn, and the upcoming album is no exception. “Tell Me feat. Blood Orange” is the second single from Dreamer+, and a masterclass in delightfully moody vocals, which lie effortlessly atop Lindgård’s own grunge-inspired guitar melodies. “I just couldn’t not hear [Blood Orange’s] voice on ‘Tell Me’,” she says of the track. “I wanted to reach out to those I really thought would make sense to have on the songs instead of just sending off a few tracks. I really wanted to be intentional about it.”
The album is inspired by a fictional story Lindgård wrote, which explores themes of love, dreams and identity. Its narrative follows a protagonist who loses her soulmate in a dream state and how she navigates this loss. “That story was definitely the source of inspiration for all the tracks and all the music I made. It’s my way of playing with the question of what is being awake and what is being in a dream,” Lindgård explains, eager to investigate how far separated – or deeply intertwined – we are from our dreaming selves.
Throughout the album, Lindgård reflects on both herself and reality, including questioning if she’s lost her “edge” on the appropriately titled “Edges” and whether we’re responsible for our actions in our dreams. “Being responsible can be a burden, if you remove the aspect of being aware of an action and being responsible for it, that opens up a whole different landscape of feeling,” she muses. “I think I do have quite a lot of bizarre, surrealistic dreams in general; they tend to step into this nightmarish state quite often.”
Below, in light of her reality-shifting album campaign, the Norwegian alt-pop artist breaks down five IRL obsessions that keep her grounded, from coffee on an empty stomach to DJing while sitting down.
Sassy 009: My good friend Michaela, who’s from Vancouver, texted me a link to this miniature store some years ago. She said, ‘Oh my god, there’s this miniature store here in North Vancouver that has the most insane website.’ The aesthetics were so old-school HTML-looking and it reminded me of old Piczo pages [a site where you can code your own webpage using HTML], and it had that aesthetic, which I was just absolutely obsessed with.
When I went to Vancouver last year, we visited the store and there was an old lady who told us she’d hand-made loads of the items herself. We had this really cute moment where I told her, ‘I love your website.’ She was like, ‘Sorry, the website is so shit – we have to update it.‘ I said, ‘No, it’s so so good!’
In the Dreamer+ spirit, I got a miniature bed from her. I haven’t really been a collector, but I think this was a soft spot for me and I realised that I can become one. The photos of the furniture there are so good – I just want to step into that world and become a miniature person.
Sassy 009: Waking up in the morning, the first thing I do is to get a cup of coffee before anything. I feel like I’ve never really solved the perfect way to go about breakfast, and so I realised that having a cup of coffee before trying to figure that out is really nice. It’s very much a step towards discovering how I can start my morning in the best possible way. I don’t do it a lot other than in the actual morning, but it’s wholesome. Well… it’s not necessarily that it is wholesome, but I definitely notice that it’s not wholesome if I don’t have it.
Sassy 009: It’s something I’ve been doing for years. I have this really shitty app on my phone, which basically just records overnight. It records everything. I’ve gotten to know myself. It’s interesting to witness yourself and your own behaviour without knowing you’re being observed – you don’t really get that opportunity when you’re awake in the same way.
I’ve noticed that I laugh a lot in my sleep. And then there are spooky moments of me speaking gibberish, which is bizarre. What’s interesting is that if I’m in London, for example, I tend to speak in English whereas here in Oslo I speak in Norwegian, which is kind of hilarious. It’s been interesting to witness myself in that way. I’ve noticed when I talk to people about it that some people find it quite daunting, but to me it’s a very intriguing way of getting to know myself.
Sassy 009: I’d never done this until lately here in Oslo. I had a moment of realisation sitting next to my friend. We were DJing and just not really talking and then my friend said, ‘This is so perfect.’ It’s the perfect way of stimming while being at a social event and I realised how locked in I was. I felt so comfortable. It was a daytime gig, it wasn’t a club and people weren’t dancing, they were just hanging out. We just had this realisation that we can do this more; we can sit next to each other, hang out at our own pace, play music, and not have to deal with, ‘Should I go over to that person? Say hi?’ We just have our own station. It really helps with the potential social anxiety that can come with navigating spaces where there are lots of people. DJing while sitting – ideally with a friend next to me – is something I’d like to do more.
Sassy 009: I was walking around in this mall next to where I live. trying to find a pair of formal white shoes and it was impossible for some reason. They only had warm, creamy white shoes. I noticed how hard it was to get a hold of a pair and then that sort of just added to the obsession. I actually had to spray-paint some shoes in order to get them because it’s been quite hard to find them. Obviously, as you wear them, they will get dirty, but I think I’m drawn to that as well. It’s so impractical that it’s almost on the edge of being stupid. Walking around in white shoes, you’re just going to ruin them, but I think that just adds to the appeal. I just want to insist on having these white Oxford shoes and they will get dirty and I will still wear them.
Dreamer+ is out January 16, 2026
