Icona Pop Release Highly Anticipated Second Album Club 'Romantech'
The album is their first in ten years.
By: Michael Major Sep. 01, 2023
Global chart-topping duo Icona Pop release their highly anticipated second studio album CLUB ROMANTECH, their first in ten years, landing September 1 via Ultra Records / Iconic Sound Recordings.
Rewriting the rules, relying on instinct, and embracing freedom, Icona Pop inhabit a world of their own design, creating an unmistakably unique fusion of pop and dance that pulses with infectious energy and undeniable spirit.
The multiplatinum Swedish duo—Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo—have taken each step of this journey together, vaulting from after-hours underground DJ sets to the top of the charts, sold out festivals, and beyond. They bring this vision to life like never before on their second full-length album, CLUB ROMANTECH.
Marking a thrilling new chapter in a career filled with era-defining highlights, CLUB ROMANTECH is a masterclass in bold dance pop and infectious crossover club tracks. The duo further cement their place in the Swedish pop canon with the kind of classy tears-in-the-club euphoria the country has become so synonymous with, not to mention plenty of deliciously razor sharp Icona Pop sass and a supporting cast of dance royalty collaborators including Ultra Naté, Galantis, Joel Corry and Sofi Tukker.
CLUB ROMANTECH began life as the world slipped into lockdown at the onset of the Global Pandemic when Icona Pop made the tough decision to sell their Los Angeles home and return to Stockholm to quarantine.
With plans derailed and a new sense of focus, these longtime friends found themselves back “in the studio where it all started.” Channelling the nostalgic setting into forging new ideas, the pair set about re-engaging with their electronic and alternative roots from an evolved perspective as proven performers and accomplished songwriters, ‘getting back to what we love’ in more ways than one.
A 15 track tour-de-force, CLUB ROMANTECH balances delicious bittersweetness with infectious peak-time dance energy. From the immaculate dance-melancholia of ‘Stockholm At Night’, whose glitchy groove underlines a captivating call-and-response with a cinematic refrain, “Makes me wonder what you’re doing tonight”.
To the sultry, yearning electro pop of ‘Need You’, where Icona Pop’s smouldering vox echo shades of a latter day Banks, or the full-pelt club hedonism of ‘Faster’, the duo give us range and depth in spades.
Taking us to all corners of the club universe, the summery piano house of ‘Loving You Ain’t Easy’, evokes the stylish club sensibilities of Jayda G or Peggy Gou, while the chantably anthemic ‘Where Do We Go From Here’ delivers rave synths and signature high energy Icona Pop bravado with a touch of reflectiveness, echoing the pivotal circumstances of the album’s creation.
The album includes a number of powerhouse collaborations with friends and kindred spirits including high energy ‘s We Do For Love’ (with Yaeger), the straight-talking euphoria of ‘I Want You’ with Galantis and ‘Desire’ with Joel Corry and Rain Radio, a track that twists and turns down a rabbit hole of overpowering attraction fueled by thumping bass, nocturnal electronic accents, and another hypnotic hook.
This summer Icona Pop took to the road for an extensive tour of Scandinavia, including a headline set at the Stockholm edition of Lollapalooza, which drew record crowds leading to organisers having to close the entrance for the first time in the festival’s history.
They also squeezed in DJ sets at Ibiza’s legendary Cafe Mambo and Pacha, while across the pond, took over Miami Music Week in style, playing alongside Sam Feldt, Robin Schulz and Galantis, as well as headline appearances at Utah Pride 2023, and Brooklyn Mirage.
Last year, Icona Pop graced the clubs worldwide with the irresistible ‘You’re Free' joined by legendary singer, songwriter, DJ, and producer Ultra Naté, paying homage to the 1997 Billboard’s Dance Club Songs Chart #1 hit ‘Free.’ Preceding the release of ‘You’re Free’ was the 10-year anniversary of the duo’s hit single, ‘I Love It’ (feat. Charli XCX); commemorated with a re-imagining of the track by Caroline and Aino, alongside producers Osrin and Ellis. Listen to ‘I Love It (I Don’t Care 2022 Re-Edit).'
Icona Pop continue to slay since the release of their 2013 full-length debut, This Is… Icona Pop, which received critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork and Rolling Stone and featured on the iconic HBO series Girls and a popular Saturday Night Live sketch.
They canvased the globe on sold out tours with Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and One Direction and joined Tiësto for the banger ‘Let’s Go’ in 2014. Along the way, the duo has performed alongside everyone from Avicii to The Chainsmokers as well as gracing the stages of Ultra, Tomorrowland, Mark Ronson’s Club Heartbreak, and more.
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