The punk version of Pure Prairie League’s “Amie?” That’s just a first impression, nothing more…stop clutching your pearls.
Elias Rønnenfelt, the Danish musician and poet best known as the lead singer and lyricist of Iceage, has released his debut single “Like Lovers Do,” out today via Escho. Co-produced by Rønnenfelt and Nis Bysted, “Like Lovers Do” was mixed by Andrew Sarlo and includes contributions from Iceage member Dan Kjær Nielsen. The video, directed by Kasper Miz, shows Rønnenfelt dragging a self-decorated karaoke machine through the streets of Milan.
“Like Lovers Do” is a jacked-up shuffle that comes out of nowhere. Lots of melody but no chorus, the song barrels forward and always away. “Everyone’s gotta head nowhere fast / I’d rather head there than back.” Despair, resistance and momentum are still the snarl in Rønnenfelt’s voice, 15 years after the teenage punk sang the first words on Iceage’s debut single. He tells his darlin’ to rest as they fly past the mess of existence. He calls out tenderness as the only answer to bullshit. He brushes against his worst memories before casting them aside. The song breaks into bright light with seconds to go, a synthetic melodica arriving as a garbage-can zydeco choir to reveal something it took the whole mean workout to make clear: he needs his lover too.
