Elias Rønnenfelt – the Danish musician best known as the frontman of Iceage – has announced details of a debut solo album called ‘Heavy Glory’.
Find out more about the LP and check out the new single ‘No One Else’ below.
Set to arrive on October 25 via Escho, the album marks the first solo record from the Iceage member, and sees him take on themes of isolation, excess, and perseverance in the face of chaos.
First starting to take shape in Spring 2022, the project was born out of the coda of the pandemic, when the end was in sight, but the world was not quite open again after the turmoil.
Co-produced by Rønnenfelt and Nis Bysted, Heavy Glory was recorded in Copenhagen over the course of a year, and sees the singer-songwriter team up with artists including Iceage bandmate Dan Kjær Nielsen, Danish punk godfather Peter Peter, Joanne Robertson and Fauzia.
“I’ve done this so many times, but capturing and crystallising an album remains a singular ritual, just with different circumstances,” Rønnenfelt said of the process. “We are capturing something that is hard to hold down.”
Today (August 14), Rønnenfelt has shared a new single to celebrate the album announcement – a heartfelt track called ‘No One Else’.
The song takes on a similar motif to the lead single and album opener ‘Like Lovers Do’ – litigating the feelings of love that arrive too late and leave only memories behind.
“These days it’s like I’m at the brink of shoving anyone from love to resent/ Any given action is another wayward spiral to repent/ Took a rare shot at commitment but ended up depending on nobody else/ Dependable as prisoners on visitation day in their holding cell,” he sings in the opening lyrics.
The single also comes with an accompanying music video, directed by Rønnenfelt himself and showing him riding a horse in the Wyoming plains, wandering around the Las Vegas strip and more. Check it out above.
As for the rest of the LP, ‘Heavy Glory’ is described as “a record that examines all the things that lovers do, from the most desperate to the most pure”
“The lover haunts the record, reappearing and provoking Rønnenfelt, pulling him in and pushing him away,” reads a press release. “Songs like ‘Close’ describe the line between jealousy and protectiveness. ‘Unarmed’ is a song of surrender. ‘River of Madeleine’ harnesses toughness in the name of preservation, staying up all night to protect his lover’s dreams.”
It also closes with two covers: a rendition of Spacemen 3’s ‘Sound of Confusion’ and Townes Van Zandt’s ‘No Place to Fall’. Pre-order the album here, and find the tracklist and album artwork below.
The ‘Heavy Glory’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Like Lovers Do’
2. ‘Another Round’
3. ‘Doomsday Childsplay’
4. ‘Close’ (featuring Fauzia)
5. ‘No One Else’
6. ‘Stalker’
7. ‘Worm Grew a Spine’
8. ‘Soldier Song’ (featuring Joanne Robertson)
9. ‘Unarmed’
10. ‘River of Madeleine’
11. ‘Sound Of Confusion’ (Spaceman 3 cover)
12. ‘No Place to Fall’ (Townes Van Zandt cover)
As for Iceage, back in 2022 – around the time Rønnenfelt was working on the solo album – the Danish post-punks announced details of a rarities collection titled ‘Shake the Feeling: Outtakes & Rarities 2015–2021’.
Arriving on September 23 via Mexican Summer, it contained 12 non-album cuts and a cover of Bob Dylan‘s ‘I’ll Keep It With Mine’ and Abner Jay’s ‘My Mule’.
