Having a worldwide hit like “I Love It” gave the Swedish pop group Icona Pop a bona fide classic, but it also casts a large shadow on any follow-up, which included a couple of studio albums and a series of EPs. However, the duo—Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt—are canny enough not to try and chase another “I Love It” and instead continue to build on the artistic success of their subsequent releases and make high-quality dance music, including their excellent new album Ritual.
On Ritual, Icona Pop continue their exploration of dance music, a genre they excel in. It’s a sleek, gorgeous record that sounds like a dark, glittery night. Running through the album, an economic ten tracks, sounds like speeding through the streets of a European city at night in a cab, seeing the blur of the twinkling city lights through the window. At turns romantic, hopeful, and melancholy, Ritual is a heart-fluttering experience that touches upon the best of current dance-pop trends. Though the music may not be groundbreaking, it’s still highly enjoyable and deserves attention, with the duo meriting esteem transcending their monster hit.
The record opens not with a bang but with a rueful sigh on the moving “Hurt”. This is a bold move for a dance album, particularly one by a group renowned for high-energy pop tunes. However, it’s an effective way to introduce Ritual‘s thoughtful approach to dance music. Most dance records would want to wow listeners with an immediate explosion of sounds, but “Hurt” draws listeners in.
The song’s quiet approach starts with a grumbling synth, after which a ghostly vocal sample drips, before a prominent voice breaks through the buzz, slightly muddled by studio effects. “I’m not denying the chemistry, but that was then, this is now”, is the kind of mournful lyric that announces a sad ballad. Haunting voices then chant “Pain, hurt, love, grief / I hope you love you the way you never loved me.” An undulating synth unspools, revving up the song, jolting it into a moody dance song that still manages to pierce listeners’ hearts with moving words like “If I’m letting go, I’m letting go for life.” The track sets the scene for the exhilarating juxtaposition of neon-bright sounds with affecting poetry.
Heartbreak and heartache find their way on several of the songs on Icona Pop’s Ritual, and like “Hurt”, the sparkly dance production belies the poignant tales of loss. Songs like “Never Over” and “Foreverness” feature lyrics that describe regret and want, accompanied by expansive soundscapes of swaying synths and propulsive choruses of piercing vocals. “Never Over” is a love song infused with self-awareness but losing itself in euphoria and delirium. It opens with the self-reflective, “I dream about it all the time what we could be if you and I / Went back to that feeling just for one night,” which leads to the knowing “tonight I might be stupid baby / I just wanna have some fun.” It’s a song for those who know better but cannot leave that one person with whom “the party’s never over”.
“Foreverness” looks to dancing to release the pain of a breakup. “I wanna dance like we’re not that broken-hearted / Like when you and I were lost in foreverness / Say you’d never let go / Thinking we could never end.” The crystalline vocals skip over the galloping beats, the words describing painful pining for a lost love.
The theme of dancing finds its way into the hypnotic “Dance to This”, which celebrates the hedonistic joy of the dancefloor. The lyrics bring to life the record’s late-night tone. The song rushes at a breakneck speed, evoking city nightlife as vocals chirp with urgency, “I found myself getting lost in this city / I’m never gonna leave these city lights / This is the place that makes me feel alive.”
“Didn’t Mean It Like That” is the album’s wittiest, most clever moment, highlighting the point of view of the affronted, appalled, injured party in a nasty breakup. The lyrics capture the contempt and self-recrimination of someone looking back at a failed relationship, spitting bitter lines like “Well played / Made me blame me / For your problems.” The breakup still fresh on their mind, Icona Pop replay past mistakes like, “I want you to be free and get your party on / I didn’t mean it like that / Wanted you to make friends and stay out all night long / I didn’t mean it like that though.” The interesting thing about the track is that this isn’t the typical “you go, girl” breakup anthem. There is genuine hurt, despite the tough talk, particularly when the song ends with the bleak “Why did you leave me like that, though?”
The complex feelings in the song exemplify the complicated way emotions are handled on Ritual. With lyrics like “How dare you ask about my password / When you’re logged out of Netflix / When I know that you’re with her / Boy you got no ethics”, the record displays a disgusted outrage which is palpable. Still, it’s also filtered through the kind of sharp attitude that namechecks pop culture and relatable circumstances popular in female-centred dance pop playing on the radio at the moment.
That is one of the notable aspects of Ritual. It’s a smart pop album, but it doesn’t rewrite any rules, nor will it necessarily break any ground. Icona Pop have been making music for nearly 20 years. They’ve logged an unequivocal classic with “I Love It” and have been following up with high-quality music since. They do so by keeping up with current trends such as inviting fellow dance artist Daya to join them on the album’s first single and title track. It’s a dark and brooding song with a humming organ-like synth that speaks to a spirituality that dovetails with the song’s title. There is cleansing imagery that speaks to mysticism, referring to a “medicine man in New York”, referring to a “ritual” to “survive.”
It’s fitting that a dance record is entitled Ritual, as for many, dance music and the dance floor are a ritual, an inspirational place for the weary and downtrodden to lose themselves and forget their worries.