ICEAGE
Plowing into the field of love
They're invading again. 'Plowing into the field of love' is the third and most likely major significant full length release by these brutally efficient Danish youngsters, displaying an intensity that can’t be matched by many groups today, as they don’t follow the conventions of any particular genre. It's an album that is simultaneously energetic and well relaxed, and on the basis of pure songwriting it's executed with consistent excellence.
Mixing the angst of early punk music with so many other influences makes it even harder to give the group a label. Even when they were just beginning to make the climb from Copenhagen’s burgeoning punk scene aboard the Escho Records wagon, their music seemed to exist in a somewhat strange temporal vacuum. Where 2011's “New Brigade“ engaged in the anti-social misanthropy of misguided youth, their sophomore effort “You’re Nothing“ used these more traditional forms for impressionistic streaks and broken images, a fractured sort of disaffected poetry that’s underscored by Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s heavy accent. While both albums shared a soul of explosive, obscured, and superior savage punk rock, their latest effort is reaching toward new ambitions and effectively sheds the DIY lo-fi ethos in favor of a more pulsing, fully-orchestrated sound. In a way, it's all new, bold and forceful here, as this album evokes a sort of euphoria, especially when unexpectedly upbeat country rhythms take turns with razor-sharp guitars and piano, mandolin and organ-strengthened ballads of well-honed musicianship; still sulky and somber and with Rønnenfelt’s vocals and your attention straight in the center of each song, but driven by expression in a clear, uncompressed sound that has become more sharp and pointed.
The resultant sound comes off like weaponized melancholia- instead of just clubbing you to death, these guys are going to pierce you with arrows. They still love to hate you, but finally managed to accept the fact of becoming famous with one of this year's most refreshing and extraordinary releases of the highest caliber.
'Plowing into the field of love' is out now on Matador Records.
We're giving away 1 x 2 tickets to see Iceage at Kantine Berghain in November. Simply send an email with subject line “Plowing into the field of love” to info(at)lodownmagazine(dot)com with your full name. Deadline is the 3rd of November - the winner will be notified.
ICEAGE
Monday, November 24
Berghain Kantine, Berlin
