Right now, Dagny's on her way back to her hometown of Tromsø for a few days, returning to the city of Northern Lights, midnight sun and "mind-blowing nature" where she first picked up a guitar around 20 years ago, with the dream of becoming a songwriter. It feels fitting that she's heading home while introducing a record so rooted in growth and figuring out who she actually wants to be.

The album itself came together surprisingly fast. Dagny started writing in London around a year and a half ago, which, by her standards, was basically lightning speed. "Whilst that might sound like a long time ago," she says, "I can tell you: that is my quickest written album to date!"

The pace came from changing her approach entirely. Going into the album, Dagny says she had "a strong desire and curiosity to explore other ways of songwriting, other ways of using my voice and new sounds", quickly realising she was being pulled toward "a bolder album" that wasn't entirely focused on heartbreak and romance. "I will forever love writing about that," she says, "just not right now."

Instead, 'Dancefloor Erotica' became "the first album I've written that is more about myself than about someone else - however egocentric that might sound."

That shift also meant learning how to trust her instincts. "I decided to let intuition lead the way, and think a little less, which has been exciting and creatively stimulating."

To help break herself out of old habits, Dagny came up with a brilliantly chaotic workaround in the studio. Rather than sitting down to write "a Dagny song", she'd pretend she was writing for somebody else entirely. "I started the whole process by going into the studio to 'write for other artists'," she explains. "I would say, 'Today I'm gonna write a song for Lady Gaga' or, 'Today I'm gonna write a song inspired by a K-pop group'."

Honestly, that explains a lot.

"In that way, I removed a lot of pressure, and it opened some new doors creatively - and I had so much fun with it!"

That mentality slowly began to bleed into her personal life, too. "I still have days when I need to remind myself not to doubt or overthink," she admits. "But this album has helped me a lot in trying to get better at standing behind my decision, also when others disagree with it."

Eventually, all those ideas started getting grouped together under one very Dagny phrase: "Scandinavian Strut".

Dagny says she became fascinated by the idea of moving confidently around the room while listening to the record, drawing inspiration from artists like Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga, David Byrne, and Madonna, alongside footage of late-80s and early-90s dancefloors. A Chappell Roan performance at Øya Festival also left a huge impression on her. "They all have such a bold and unapologetic approach to both their music and aesthetics," she says. "I wanted to make something that felt like it could be part of their solar system, but still be its own planet."

"Us Norwegians are not known to be very strutty," she laughs. "Aesthetically, it's all a bit more toned down and slightly colder, but that doesn't mean you can't put a bold and unapologetic twist on it!"

That mindset feeds directly into the album itself. Looking back now, Dagny sees a clear line between 'ELLE' and 'Dancefloor Erotica'. "When I was working on 'ELLE', I already knew that I wanted to make something I could dance to," she explains. "If 'ELLE' was the hopeless romantic with a slightly chaotic and emotional love life, 'Dancefloor Erotica' is the bolder, slightly more carefree, older sister."

The album's opening singles quickly established that shift, too. 'Dancefloor Erotica' was one of the first songs written for the project and became "such an anthem for desire and liberation", while follow-up single 'Closet Disco Queen' captures the more vulnerable side of the album's themes. "It's about not being scared of showing all of you, and simply telling fear and self-consciousness to take a seat," Dagny says. "Which in so many ways represents my journey with this album."

One of the clearest breakthrough moments arrived during the making of 'C'est La Vie'. Dagny was working with producer Coucheron when a friend stopped by the studio and asked to hear an early snippet. Normally, she hates playing unfinished material before deciding how she feels about it herself, but this time she made an exception. The reaction was immediate.

"He stood up and started confidently walking around the room," she remembers. "And I thought, 'That. That's it. That's the feeling I want this album to give off'."

That confidence extends to some of the album's best titles too, particularly 'Turns Out I'm Not A Robot'. Dagny proudly describes herself as "a sucker for a good title, and the longer the better", before giving a quick shoutout to The 1975.

Underneath the title, though, sits one of the album's most personal themes. Dagny explains that she's spent years feeling uncomfortable with negative emotions, often defaulting to guardedness rather than fully opening up. "Occasionally I've fallen into the trap of just co-existing, or surviving or simply turning on auto-pilot," she says. "Not the best foundation for a healthy relationship."

Making the album helped start dismantling some of those walls. "With love, you have to be real brave to dive into it," she says. "With all the love, fun, support, and good times comes also the possibility of getting hurt, disappointed or scared and even angry."

"The autopilot's coming off, both in romantic and platonic relationships," she adds. "And the reward is so much better than the opposite."

The willingness to embrace risk became one of the biggest lessons of making 'Dancefloor Erotica'. "The only thing I would find worse than trying something new and failing is to never dare to try anything new in fear of failing," Dagny says. "I think you learn and grow so much when you dare to go out of your comfort zone and when you're in a situation that gives a slight feeling of, 'Ugh, will I sink or swim?'"

It also taught her to use the lower part of her vocal range more, which feels like a fair trade.

Even after years of huge pop songs, Dagny still sounds completely energised by the genre itself. "I will always love pop music - through all its phases," she says, pointing toward a current landscape where artists seem more interested in individuality than chasing the same trends. "Creatively, artists feel bolder, and they are following their own path, with their own aesthetic attached to it. There is room for a lot of different things, and it all feels less trend-based, which I love!"

That confidence is about to be tested properly as festival season approaches, including a headline slot at Øya Festival shortly after the album's release. Despite more than a decade of festival appearances behind her, Dagny says it still feels nerve-racking. "It still feels like a step out of the comfort zone every year," she says, "which is probably why I love playing concerts so much."

This time, though, she's determined not to fall back on familiarity. "I'm allowing the new record to take more space in the set," she explains. "I don't want to be repeating the same setlists from the last three summers. I wanna feel like I'm in motion, and I feel so full of energy by the idea of doing these new songs."

And while Dagny admits becoming less self-conscious is still "a work in progress", making the album has already started changing the way she sees herself. "We always talk about music being a direct translation of your emotions," she says, "but writing is also an amazing way to attract and remind yourself of the emotions you desire more of."

She compares it to reassuring yourself in the mirror, even on bad days. "Gradually, you adapt the mindset and become kinder to yourself," she explains. "I needed a reminder to be braver and break out of the framework I'd put on myself, both creatively and also personally. Simply give myself some more space to be a human, with all its good and bads, trials and errors."

Also, before anybody gets too carried away by a track title like 'Black Bugatti', Dagny would like it officially noted that she does not own a sports car. Or any car at all, actually. "I just liked the metaphor of something moving forward, fast," she says.

Fair enough. Sometimes you just need a Scandinavian strut and an imaginary Bugatti.

Dagny's album 'Dancefloor Erotica' is out 12th June.