ICEAGE

Following the release of “Star”, “Ember” formally introduces For Love of Grace & the Hereafter, Iceage‘s sixth studio album. It’s dialed-in and fun and as serious as ever, glowing through love. “Ember” opens with a louche warmup, not typically committed to tape: a sliding run-through of chords without particular direction; a glockenspiel picking out a lead line. The sound of a band getting ready. And suddenly we’re off, barrelling down the street. The song is an extended hand with a raised eyebrow, inviting its subject to race through the city in love, catching breath in an alley and then going again. Rønnenfelt’s “I love you in an ominous way” is a direct moment of clarity, until the rose-tinted melody spills into controlled mayhem. Flying feet, like “Jules and Jim”, or “Lust for Life”, or “Like a Hurricane”.