Global chart-topping duo Icona Pop have announced their highly anticipated second studio album, CLUB ROMANTECH, out September 1st via Ultra Records / Iconic Sound Recordings / TEN Music Group. To celebrate the announcement, the Swedish duo shared the official artwork and track listing, alongside a new single from their forthcoming body of work and exciting new chapter. The new single, “Where Do We Go From Here” is the latest taste of what’s to come.
Speaking on the new track, Icona Pop’s Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt reveal, “’Where Do We Go From Here’ was one of the first songs we wrote in the fall of 2020 after realizing we couldn’t move back to LA because of the pandemic. Back in Stockholm, we formed a small crew to start making music and thought ‘what the fuck are we going to do now?’ Eclectic, fun, hard, pop, deep, mainstream, catchy, weird, late at night, early in the morning – always with a tear in the corner of the eye and a smile on our face. That’s how ‘Where Do We Go From Here’ feels and that’s how CLUB ROMANTECH feels too.”
Speaking about the album, Caroline observes, “As Icona Pop, we can release a pop tune or a super hard dance song, and that’s who we are. When we started to write this album, we didn’t have any rules. We just had a vision we wanted to share with our fans. We’re inviting them into our world.”
“We put all of our problems and stress into what we’re doing,” Aino adds. “We love disguising our heartbreaks and sadness in uplifting songs you can dance to. It was a very emotional process, and it’s all in the music.”
As civilization slipped into lockdown at the onset of the Global Pandemic, Icona Pop unfortunately had to sell their Los Angeles home and return to Stockholm to quarantine—with plans derailed by the worldwide lockdown. Not long after, these longtime friends found themselves back “in the studio where it all started.” For as much as the setting conjured a sweet sentiment of nostalgia, it also pushed them to re-engage their electronic and alternative roots from an evolved perspective as proven performers and accomplished songwriters.
“We got back to what we love,” Aino affirms. “It was the quietest period we’ve experienced in ten-plus years, so it’s crazy we made such danceable music. We felt the need to do something more up-tempo.”
“During these long conversations, we were dreaming of what we wanted the album to sound like,” recalls Caroline. “We finally had the time to explore, have fun, and try different things. It feels like we’re going back to our core, but from where we are today. Initially, we were devastated to leave L.A. and the whole system we had built there. Suddenly, we were in Sweden, and we felt alone. In retrospect, I’m very happy we were there, but there was a lot of crying at first. What kept us going during the Pandemic was going into the studio.”