Elias Rønnenfelt of Iceage Releases New Single/Video “Doomsday Childsplay” from his debut Album, Heavy Glory, Out This Friday via Escho. Performing at Pitchfork London in November.
Elias Rønnenfelt, the Danish musician and poet best known as the lead singer and lyricist of Iceage, will release his debut solo album, Heavy Glory, this Friday via Escho.
Today, he shares the final preview of the album, “Doomsday Childsplay,” with an accompanying video directed by Bill Taylor. “Doomsday Childsplay” is a lilting lament featuring backing vocals from Joanne Robertson. Over a Warren Ellis-esque violin line, Rønnenfelt speaks of “a parasitic high” as he exclaims “spelled out and hindered from weight / the outcome’s been held up / in this doomsday child’s play.”
Heavy Glory is the sound of growing up in the world by throwing oneself into the world, made by someone whose only constant companions have been a pen and a guitar.
The album tells tales of isolation, excess, and perseverance in the face of chaos. Co-produced by Rønnenfelt and Nis Bysted, Heavy Glory was recorded in Copenhagen in chapters and moments over the course of a year. Collaborators include Iceage’s Dan Kjær Nielsen, Danish punk godfather Peter Peter, as well as singers Fauzia and Joanne Robertson (who Rønnenfelt has collaborated with before on a number of Dean Blunt releases).
Heavy Glory first took shape in the spring of 2022, during the curious coda of the pandemic, when the world felt neither open nor closed. Rønnenfelt, “sick and tired of not being able to do what I do,” announced to his fans and friends that he would play shows anywhere in Europe, in any venue, to whoever wanted to hear his music.
On the road, Rønnenfelt would write songs and play them the next day. These songs, which form the heart of Heavy Glory, were designed to be played anywhere, and they had to be: they were christened in forests and living rooms, bookstores and chapels. Rønnenfelt’s life as an artist combined with his fluency and comfort in music creates a sound that wobbles and rocks but never loses its center, both fragile and tough, and always moving forward. It is dreamy yet bombastic, held together by the passion of certainty.
Elias will head to the UK and London on November 7th to perform songs from the record at The Lexington as part of Pitchfork Music Festival before a further date at Utrecht's Le Guess Who, a one-off US gig with Yves Tumor and then a clutch of shows in Italy and on home soil in Denmark.
Photo by Ira Rønnenfelt
Elias Rønnenfelt live
Thu. Nov. 7 - London, UK @ The Lexington (Pitchfork Music Festival London)
Sat. Nov. 9 - Utrecht, NL @ Le Guess Who
Fri. Nov. 15 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet's w/ Yves Tumor, Kenny Mason
Sat Nov. 30 - Napoli, IT @ Auditorium Novecento
Sun Dec. 1 - Milano, IT @ Arci Bellezza
Fri. Jan. 31 - Aarhus, DK @ Voxhall
Sat. Feb. 1 - Copenhagen, DK @ Hotel Cecil