Icona Pop - Club Romantech (2023) [Hi-Res]

A decade after their last album and the inescapable "I Love It" (featuring Charli XCX)—a song that pop culture still can't quit—the Swedish electropop duo Icona Pop are back. Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo had coasted on the endless party circuit of festival and dance celeb gigs for years, until the pandemic actually brought the party to an end. "Initially, we were devastated to leave LA and the whole system we had built there. Suddenly, we were in Sweden, and we felt alone. In retrospect, I'm very happy we were there, but there was a lot of crying at first," the pair said in a statement. But they regrouped "and thought 'what the fuck are we going to do now?' Eclectic, fun, hard, pop, deep, mainstream, catchy, weird, late at night, early in the morning—always with a tear in the corner of the eye and a smile on our face." That freedom and time to explore led them in a wild variety of directions. Chill "Fall In Love," with its catchy "fa-la-la-la in love" line, fits with Dua Lipa's sophisticated modern disco sound. "Need You" mixes R&B influence with a hard, metallic edge and throbbing undercurrent. "Loving You Ain't Easy" relies on cool-breeze piano and a skittish rhythm for its expression of naked desire. Hjelt and Jawo play with burbling pop on "Stockholm at Night" and "Feels In My Body," while "Desire" packs in deep house beats and features Joel Corry and Rain Radio. It's just one of many collabs, along with "I Want You" with EDM duo Galantis, the fun-house vibe of "Off of My Mind" with Vize, and kinetic "Shit We Do for Love" featuring longtime writing partner Yaeger. The star turn, though, is "You're Free," a rework of Ultra Naté's 25-year-old "Free" whose super powered vocals and pleasure-seeking focus perfectly jibes with Icona Pop's MO: "Yeah, I just wanna dance right now till my heels wear out!" And while "Where Do We Go From Here" is not as explosive as "I Love It," it still fizzes and pops and delivers a glorious build. But the wildest moments come in the form of "Stick Your Tongue Out"—a pulsing Peaches-esque banger that orders "lick it, lick it"—and closer "Spa," with guest stars Sofi Tukker. With rocking guitar and goofball self-care lyrics, it is pure camp: "Put some cukes on my eyes/ Tell me, is this paradise?" Tucker Halpern deadpans, while the girls declare: "I'm done with the club/ Just take me to the spa/ 'Cause I wanna feel the sweat/ From the steam room and the sauna." Why not? © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz