Iceage: For the Love of Grace & Hereafter Review – Danish punks ace sixth album on the trot | Music

Meceage have been seen as a constantly growing group. You could say it makes sense, because the Danish singers were young when their first album was released The New Brigade released in 2011: if you don’t change between the ages of 18 and 30s, you’re probably in trouble. But rock music is not real life, and a group that doesn’t do well can have the attitude to keep something good, because of the acceptance of the New Brigade was given. Twenty-four minutes of hardcore mixed with the sound of Birthday Party-esque post-punk and a lot of gothic darkness, they were appreciated so much that the praise caused a great debate, as every group says that the “saviors” of the whole genre like to do, especially as a punk genre.

Iceage seemed unfazed by any weight of expectation. If they did not exactly sound like a completely different group in 2014 a Cultivating the Garden of Lovewere still doing things you didn’t think New Brigade writers were doing: piano ballads, country-rock and, on Abundant Living, trying to join the dots between Howlin’ Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning and the ramshackle sound of Elias Rønnenfelt’s beloved Pogues. In 2018, Unlimited they offered Dexys-style horns, New Orleans jazz and a song that sounded like mid-80s U2 with a string section. By 2021 Find Accommodationthey had a gospel choir on board and a mix of songs – think Oasis angsty, dark and disturbing – and songs that included the Carter Family’s Can the Bridge Be Unbreakable? or based on the influence of French music.

Their sixth album, For Love of Grace & the Hereafter, is being read as a return to the original principles of punk. “We wanted to try to remove any unnecessary burdens,” said Rønnenfelt, describing the content as “fast, fast, raw and fast”. It’s a lot harder than what it was – but the chaos that Iceage did was nowhere to be seen.

In fact, the new album sounds powerful, but modified in every way, and the vocals are much stronger and clearer. For all the power of the guitars and the punk beat of Ember’s opener, there is an ease and confidence with which the band navigates the tempo changes and transitions in the middle of a song like Match Head Girl or No Fear. makes for some great county-rock guitar twists – but the songs are stitched together into a coherent album that moves rather than soars between different styles.

The music does them a favor: the wonderful backing of Rønnenfelt’s voice, which still favors a sarcastic, expressive and gentle voice, makes love sound like a fight to the death. “I’m a bee and I’m stuck with a sting in you / It’s home, it’s death,” he sings on White Water – the main clue for next year’s Valentine’s Day card – and elsewhere he offers encouragement that will make the recipient wish he hadn’t bothered. “You’re going to be a good mother,” he said encouragingly to Pearl’s mother, after explaining the sad circumstances in which she said the pregnancy took place, including a father in prison who uses heroin and a “shithouse” shared with addicts.

It should be heavy, but it’s not, because the real music is so much fun. Mother-of-a-Pearl unleashes her lyrical pains with melodious vocals and free-flowing backing that evokes the sunny version of Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life; White Water burns with a heavy breath on a simple sound, which sounds like it’s being played on two guitars and a toy piano. The shape of the latter instrument points to the interesting humor that circulates around the sound. Instead of a guitar solo, The Weak throws in the sound of a strumming sound, a sound that might be present when a teacher temporarily leaves an elementary school music class unattended; 1835 continues with a whirlwind that lends a strange, moving touch to Rønnenfelt’s thoughts on life’s meaningless changes.

The result is Iceage’s thrilling sixth album: an impressive series. It leaves you thinking that even though the group’s constant growth and diversity is evident, their consistency is still surprising. Being the best at what you do is one thing; Being good at what you do, where what you do makes a difference, is another thing. And that’s what Iceage is: a long time to stay in a state of flux.

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