Sweden has a long history of fructifying the top of the pop crop. Beginning with the dancefloor vintage of ABBA and Roxette, the Nordic country has since gone on to produce some of the greatest pop artists to have graced our terrestrial planet.
Nowadays, Sweden is responsible for countless 21st century crooning troubadours (Jens Lekman), clubbing kings (Swedish House Mafia), nu-pop divas (Robyn), indie divinities (Lykke Li) and alt-electronica maestros (The Knife) – artists whose trend-setting sonics have permeated the outline of their Scandinavian homeland to infect all corners of the globe.
Icona Pop are the latest to add to this poptastic register. Comprising of Caroline Hjelt & Aino Jawo, Icona Pop first caused a minor-riot among the blogosphere after they dropped their flawless debut single, “Manners,” in July of last year. This girl-power “Single Ladies” paean of the electro-pop world saw Hjelt and Jawo irresistibly vilify non-committal ex-boyfs with killer game console synths and all-conquering sing-along choruses:
“Manners/Take a second look and you’ll see/There is no one like me/Manners/You better reconsider/Cause you will never do better”
In October, the duo followed up “Manners” with a debut EP, Nights Like This. The EP was a critical success, with endless music bloggers bewitched by this bundle of 8-bit sass-pop which had mysteriously landed on their post pile. Stand-out jam, title-track “Nights Like This,” was swiftly announced Icona Pop’s second single, accompanied by a Tarantino-style video during which Hjel and Jawo transform into tortilla-munching cowboy kidnappers. The flick was an ironically fitting embodiment of this effortlessly cool twosome’s beautiful yet blackhearted attitude, an attitude which just so happened to catch the attention of Mercury Records’ team of A&Rs…
Having secured a major deal with Mercury, these Stockholm vixens are currently busy working on their debut album with coveted producers, Elof Loelv and Patrick Berger. Look out for a full-length release from around March time, but until then, head on over to Icona Pop’s Soundcloud to hear more from Sweden’s latest and greatest pop export.
