Icona Pop have announced their return with new album ‘Ritual’ and the infectious single ‘Dance To This’ – check it out below.
The Swedish duo of Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo will release their fourth studio album and the follow-up to 2023’s ‘Club Romantech’ on August 14 via Ultra Records/Iconic Sound Recordings, and you can pre-order your copy here.
The band have already released the record’s emotional lead single and title track, and now they have followed it up with the twitching, addictive banger ‘Dance To This’, written by the duo and produced by Sebastian Furrer.
The track’s propulsive energy is matched by its restless lyrics, including “Kinda wanna burn a bridge / Kinda wanna be a bitch / Kinda wanna take a risk / Kinda wanna dance to this”.
Check out the video, directed by Gustav Stegfors, here, as well as the ‘Ritual’ album art:
Aino has said: “The production definitely reminds me of old Icona Pop. We could perform it live, but we could also put it in a DJ set.”
Hjelt added: “It’s one of those nights when you’re finding yourself by going out… it’s the moment you see yourself dancing and connected to your essence.”
‘Ritual’ is said to find Icona Pop at their most “honest, liberated and emotionally fearless”, and the band have said: “Healing requires you to slow down and reflect, but you can’t work on yourself 24/7 forever. Eventually, you have to get back out into the world and see what happens. You might mess up – but that could be exactly what you need. For us, the dance floor has always been a place where we find ourselves and each other again. It’s where we can disappear into the music and let go of everything else.”
Icona Pop are perhaps still best remembered for their breakout 2012 single ‘I Love It’, featuring vocals by Charli XCX, who also wrote the song. It was a UK Number One single and also served as the first major success for Charli, who released her debut album ‘True Romance’ the following year and finally conquered popular culture with her 2024 record ‘Brat’.