Summer 2023 was filled with a little bit of everything: innovative girl dinners, a return to movie double features, and an excruciating amount of celebrity drama. What it was missing, however, was the song of the summer, the anthem that allows you to leave all your troubles behind on the dance floor. Returning from their hibernation of 10 years since their debut, Swedish pop duo Icona Pop, composed of Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt, establishes their dominance in catchy beats that could be easily found at any gay club during Pride.

Icona Pop isn’t a new name to the internet. Though the 2012 “I Don’t Care” single fame steered heavily in favor of Charli XCX, the duo’s presence in the electropop and EDM scene didn’t end there. Thriving alongside the likes of Sofi Tukker and Galantis, Icona Pop’s “Club Romantech” makes you feel as if they’ve never left the top 100 radio. 

The opening track “Fall In Love” ushers listeners in with a simple la-la-la-la. Reminiscent of an H&M rave banger, the track walks the wire of a classic four on the floor. With semi-distorted harmonies, the electro-bubble-pop track is adjacent to what could be found on Tove Lo’s party playlist. Seamlessly attached is the following track “Desire” featuring Joel Corry, one of the many collaborations on the album. With an echoing reverb and muffled shouting vocals to complete each beat drop, fans can easily pick out Corry’s god-like presence. Its heavy bass and hi-hat conducts a stimulation that would best be experienced at a vomit-infused festival ground in Ibiza.

The body roll-esque flavored track “Stick Your Tongue Out” is an undying taste of what the duo’s work best demonstrates. It features a catchy hook, feelings of provoking deep thoughts, and the incessant urge of a heavy make out next to a cool mojito “Ice cream dreams made of me/No regret you got it”. The chorus chants “lick it” in repetitively; a dizzying sugar rush of euphoria so sickening you feel guilty asking for more.

“Stokholm At Night” recalls the duo’s home and heart at European night clubs where love is found and lost “Wanna laugh, wanna cry/Stockholm at night/Makes me want to turn this cab around.” The show stopping semi-power ballad encapsulates the many motifs demonstrated along the album – love, lust, heartbreak, and a partner you are so deeply enamored by it makes you turn the cab around to see them. 

The lead single “You’re Free” featuring Ultra Naté takes inspiration from Naté’s 1997 hit “Free.” Naté’s famed house-infused power anthems resemble Whitney Houston and Robin S in their trendy and timeless fast tempo style. Icona Pop’s overly ambitious track takes major house inspiration from Naté’s hands-in-the-air music approach, but adds a bit of depth by collaborating with Naté to refurbish a classic dance record. The empowerment track sadly falls short due to extremely pitchy vocals that fall flat on the ears. The track could be best described as the lesser cousin to Kanye-featured and Skrillex produced track “Ego Death” by Ty Dolla $ign which samples the same 90’s hit.

The duo leaves with two unabashed, sinful hitmakers – “Where Do We Go From Here” and “Spa.” “Where Do We Go From Here” returns the album to the original sound from Icona Pop many knew in 2013 “We got blood, we got luck, we got money”. The impenetrable track makes dancing with your friends everlasting. Featuring Sofi Tukker’s memorable autotuned deep voice enchantment, “Spa” is every rave goer’s new car-ear-blasting track. A tremorring release after each beat drop will leave you wondering where the duo will go next.