The musical tornado that was NXNE 2015 blew into Toronto on Wednesday, June 17, boasting hundreds of bands performing over a five-day span, not to mention various film screenings, installations, and even a record sale. It’s not for the faint of heart or the weak of feet, but it is an exhilarating, if exhausting, event.
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I’ve said it before: there must be something in the water in Scandinavia. How else do you explain the incredible music coming from the area? Much has been written on Popshifter about Iceage as well as the band Lower, both from Copenhagen. They’re friends who’ve toured together as well as collaborated on music, film, and photography.
Iceage singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt has now released a solo album under the enticing moniker of Marching Church. No doubt there are those who see the phrase “solo album” associated with a 23-year-old guy who looks like Leo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet and roll their eyes to the heavens. But we were all 23 once. I’m certain that a lot of people reading this never unleashed music as stupendous as the last three Iceage albums when they were that age, so let’s hold off on the snark.
I don’t care whose house is on fire
As long as I can warm myself at the blaze.
—Iceage, “On My Fingers”
Anyone who is surprised by the evolution of Iceage on their new album Plowing Into The Field Of Love hasn’t been paying attention. The seeds of the band’s sound were sowed early on, in songs like “New Brigade” and “You’re Blessed,” a seemingly haphazard collision of styles and sounds hinting that something far greater was in their future. That something has arrived and it’s one of the best things you’ll hear this year, if not for a long while, or at least until Iceage makes another album.
When we last heard from Iceage in 2011, they were causing quite a stir with their debut album New Brigade (review). Encapsulating yet confounding the parameters of post-punk and hardcore in this new millennium, critics and music fans took notice. Now Iceage has returned with You’re Nothing, which does all it can to beautifully obliterate New Brigade, while still retaining the spirit that made that album so good.
Photo © Anton Rothstein
A couple of weeks ago I posted a link to “Coalition,” the first single from Iceage’s upcoming album You’re Nothing (out 2/19 on Matador).
Now they’ve released another new track—”Ecstasy”—and this one has a proper video.
The song actually gives me goosebumps. It also reminds me of my mortality; as much as I’d love to see this band on their upcoming tour, I’d also probably be crushed to death.
“Ecstasy,” “Coalition,” and an exclusive B-side “A Rifle,” will feature on an Escho 7″, released on February 5 and available via import through Matador in a limited quantity.
Photo © Griffin Shot
Iceage, who blew a lot of people away with their 2011 debut album New Brigade, have a new single. There’s not a proper video for “Coalition” per se, but you can listen to it on YouTube.
If you haven’t yet heard Iceage, this is a great intro. They’ve clearly kept the same aesthetic that made New Brigade so exciting, but “Coalition” sounds ever so slightly more mature (and not in a stodgy, old fart way).
The band’s second album, You’re Nothing, will be out February 19 on Matador. You can pre-order it on the Matador website. The band is also embarking on a massive tour beginning January 24 in Connecticut. For more, check out the band’s blog.
Tour Dates:
Thu. Jan. 24 — Middletown, CT @ Wesleyan University (Eclectic House) – FREE SHOW
Fri. Jan. 25 — Brooklyn, NY @ 285 Kent
Sat. Jan. 26 — New York, NY @ Home Sweet Home
Thu. Jan. 31 – Berlin, DE @ CTM Festival
Fri. Feb. 1 – Amsterdam, NL @ Grauzone Festival
Mon. Feb. 25 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Tue. Feb. 26 – Liverpool, UK @ Shipping Forecast
Wed. Feb. 27 – Sheffield, UK @ Shakespeare’s
Thu. Feb. 28 – London, UK @ Electrowerkz
Fri. March 1 – Brighton, UK @ The Albert
Sat. March 2 – Nottingham, UK @ Chameleon Arts Café
Mon. March 4 – Paris, FR @ Espace B
Tue. March 5 – Brussels, BE @ Les Ateliers Claus
Wed. March 6 – Eindhoven, NL @ Area 51
Fri. March 8 – Munster, DE @ Gleiss 22
Sat. March 9 – Gronigen, NL @ Vera
Sun. March 10 – Hamburg, DE @ Hafenklang
Wed. March 20 – Vancouver, BC @ the Biltmore w/ Spectres
Thu. March 21 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Fri. March 22 – Olympia, WA @ Capital Theater (backstage)
Sat. March 23 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater
Mon. March 25 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop w/ Merchandise, Wet Hair
Tue. March 26 – Oakland, CA @ New Parish w/ Merchandise, Wet Hair
Thu. March 28 – Bakersfield, CA @ Munoz Gym w/ Milk Music
Fri. March 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex w/ Milk Music
Sun. March 31 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah w/ Milk Music
Mon. April 1 – Tempe, AZ @ Deadhorse Warehouse w/ Milk Music, Destruction Unit
Thu. April 4 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater w/ Merchandise, Wet Hair
Sat. April 6 – Grinnell, IA @ Grinnell College w/ Wet Hair – FREE SHOW
Sun. April 7 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Club
Tue. April 9 – Madison, WI @ University of Wisconsin – FREE SHOW
Wed. April 10 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ Final Grin
Thu. April 11 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Fri. April 12 – Pittsburgh, PA @ 6119
Tue. April 16 – Burlington, VT @ Monkey House w/ White Lung
Wed. April 17 – Boston, MA @ TT the Bear’s w/ White Lung
Thu. April 18 – New Haven, CT @ Lilly’s Pad (Toad’s Place Upstairs)
Fri. April 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church w/ White Lung
Sat. April 20 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/ White Lung
Thu. May 30 – Sun. June 2 – Austin, TX @ Chaos in Tejas
Check out the latest video from Iceage, whose album New Brigade we reviewed in June, saying, it “teeters on the thrilling precipice between the purity of the band’s nascent talent and future brilliance.”
Iceage is the kind of band that music critics slobber all over (and if you read music blogs, you’ll have heard about them already). This probably sounds like I’m insulting Iceage and music critics in one hastily written sentence, but be patient with me; I had to put that out there to get it out of the way.
Hearing “White Rune” for the first time was invigorating, to say the least. And to be fair to music critics, in part because I am one, there’s an awful lot of crappy music out there, so any hint of potential non-crap is pretty damn exciting to us.
Photo © Alberte Karrebæk
This is Iceage. Although there’s a better press photo that proves these four Swedish guys are, in fact, still in high school, I picked this blurry one because it looks more akin to what they sound like. And that’s something I’m not yet fully able to describe.
Based on the song, “White Rune,” I’ve got high hopes for Iceage’s debut album New Brigade, which will be released via What’s Your Rupture? on June 21. It’s got that exciting, on-the-verge-of-collapsing, post-punk sound of which I will never grow tired.
Yet unlike a lot of revisionist-sounding post-punk bands, I can’t immediately name another band Iceage seems to be imitating. And “White Rune” features saxophone. You know the kind. Not sax of the Yacht Rock or Kenny G. flavor, but the bad ass kind.
New Brigade is a mere 24 minutes long but based on “White Rune” it looks to be an exhilarating 24 minutes. I will keep you posted.
In the meantime, check out the band’s website. They’re playing lots of UK dates in May so go see them if you can.