By Stan Cierlitsky
So happy to be reviewing the new album by Iceage frontman Elias Rønnenfelt. Heavy Glory is out October 25. It's been a minute since I got to review the fifth Iceage album, Seek Shelter, here a few years back.
The first thing that jumped out at me when I got the album is the Spaceman 3 cover of "Sound of Confusion", from Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To, not the Sound of Confusion album. A few years ago, I compared Seek Shelter to early Spaceman 3 recordings, so the fact that this brilliant cover is included here is a huge treat (and sort of pleasant vindication) for me. Much of Heavy Glory is less noisy and layered though, so this one stands out in a lot of ways. This track sounds like it was recorded on the first take. And I mean that as a compliment, as it's perfectly layered and raw.
Elias started recording this album in 2022 during the pandemic. The press release about Heavy Glory says that this record is "the sound of growing up in the world by throwing oneself into the world, made by someone whose only constant companions have been a pen and a guitar." That description makes perfect sense to me. After listening to Iceage for years, this album sounds like one man's vision, and not that of a band. The music is diverse in approach and intent, and the lyrics apparently center on all the things that lovers do. On "Like Lovers Do", Ronnefelt sings, "Won't you spin me around like lovers do" to a country hoe-down background. Kind of a surprise compared to Iceage, but it's good.
The album's second single, "No One Else", is one of the record's highlights. It starts out acoustic, then a perfect chiming guitar enters. Rønnenfelt bittersweetly sings, "Her kiss is truly sweet like no one else, but I couldn't keep my fingers to myself." The song builds expertly, and towards the end does feel more like his work with Iceage.
The rest of the album is very eccentric; you have slow ballads ("Stalker" and "River of Madelaine"), and some interesting collaborations ("Soldier Song" with Joanne Robertson and "Close" with Fauzia). And "Worm Grew a Spine" features a prominent programmed beat, and fills out the variety of the record nicely.
I really enjoyed listening to this album. Yeah, I miss the big full sounds of Iceage, but this is a personal, introspective, and diverse album that's definitely worth a listen.
Heavy Glory by Elias Rønnenfelt is out on October 25 via Escho Records.
[Photo: Ilaria Ieie]