Iceage

For Love of Grace & the Hereafter is Iceage’s tightest album to date, even glossy at times, but not tight enough to dull its pulse. With wordless howls, nastily detuned riffs that bend into harmony, breakdowns, handclaps, and a chaotic choral break seemingly played on pennywhistles, For Love of Grace & the Hereafter is a showcase of the band’s fundamental curiosity and trust in their instincts.

Produced and mixed by the band (Rønnenfelt, Dan Kjær Nielsen, Jakob Tvilling Pless, Johan S. Weith, and Casper Morilla Fernandez) and Nis Bysted, For Love of Grace & the Hereafter was recorded last year at Silence Studio, a modest house in rural Sweden near the Norwegian border. Twelve years ago they recorded 2014’s Plowing Into the Field of Love at the same studio; it’s no coincidence it’s the only time they have returned to a studio to cut a record. The band wanted to capture the same intense energy.

The band leaned on their experiences and the thousands of hours on stages they’ve shared since they were teenagers. The setup was as minimal as possible: making decisions live and not overthinking, patient full takes with minimal overdubs. The lyrics were written only a few weeks before entering the studio to prevent the overall picture from being too fragmented and to increase the sense of risk and urgency.

For Love of Grace & the Hereafter is bright and energetic. It’s both fun and as serious as ever, growing and glowing through love. There is no affectation or prescription to this record—no palette of curated influence or sought sound. It is the sum total of inspirations, shared openly in the name of playing and playing’s pleasures.