| Shaun |
25-04-2013 06:43 AM |
it's apparently released June 3rd now :/
has risen to #16 in the US (and still in the top ten on itunes) and has hit top five in Australia, Sweden, Austria, Israel and Luxembourg, so I don't really see why this isn't a hit here yet :suspect:
Quote:
Although they formed four years ago, it's been the past 12 months that has seen Swedish duo Icona Pop steadily rise up the charts.
The band's anthemic debut single 'I Love It' has been used on a number of high-profile campaigns, TV shows and computer games across the globe, helping spur them into mainstream consciousness.
Digital Spy caught up with Icona Pop's Caroline Hjelt to talk about their ever-growing profile, as well as what they've got in store for their second studio album.
Hello Caroline! Are you enjoying being back in London?
"Yes, it's nice to be back. We haven't been here for such a long time."
And how was SXSW?
"Too fun - I'm totally destroyed. And we actually went to Ultra straight after. So we went from an after-party straight to Ultra and performed there and then we went here.
Austin, Miami, London - that's a good trip. Did you manage to catch the Prince show at SXSW?
"No, because we left for Miami. I almost cried. He's such an inspiration."
Well, first of all congratulations on the ever-growing success of 'I Love It'. It's taken a year for the song to sort of steadily spread across the globe. How have you found the whole experience?
"I mean, this year has been the best year of our lives so far. A year ago we were here in London and we didn't have anything. We had a lot of dreams and a lot of spirit and we had each other. Now it's never been crazier. Especially over the last six months."
Did you ever think 'I Love It' would take off the way it has over the last couple of months?
"I mean it's always hard to predict. You can always say that you believe strongly in the song and that you love it, but when you start realising that other people like it as well, I mean that's such a cool experience. Especially when people come up to you and tell the story like, 'I just broke up with this girl or this boy and I listen to these lyrics and it helped me through it'. That means a lot."
It was also used on HBO's Girls. Were you a fan of the programme before they featured it?
"Oh yeah, I mean we lived here in London a year ago and they started sending Girls, the first episodes, we were watching that like as ritual. I mean, every Monday when it came out, we cooked some nice dinner and we were all in bed watching it."
That sounds like a good Monday ritual to have.
"Yeah, so we actually tweeted at them at that point as were like, 'We love Girls, listen to our music'. But I bet that's not why it was in the show."
Although 'I Love It' is on your debut album in Sweden, is it going to lead in to your second collection elsewhere?
"We're just about to wrap up our new album and it will not be the same as the one in Sweden. We've been through so much and we've been writing a lot of songs, so it's going to be a little bit different . It feels like we've been in labour for four years with this album so we're kind of ready to pop it out."
How have you found writing this album?
"Working on this album has been great and kind of crazy actually because we've been travelling so much. We were more or less travelling everyday so you learn to be creative along the way. When you see stuff, you just record it on your phone and then you go to the hotel room and do the proper recordings. But sometimes we use the original recording because it's got the right feeling."
You teamed up with Charli XCX for 'I Love It', so are you hoping to work with more guests on the new album?
"I think when we collaborate with people, it's such a nice thing. You learn new ways of working and it's always fun. You never know how things will end up when you collaborate with someone."
Can you give us any hint as to who you've worked with?
"Hmm, I don't wanna jinx it but we do have some collaborations. We'll let you know soon who's on it for sure."
Have you experimented with sounds other than club synths for the album?
"From the beginning, we've always been club kids - we love dancing. We love the whole club scene. But of course it won't be 15 tracks all like 'I Love It'. I promise you. It will be kind of a spread album with some slower songs and some totally different rhythms. Although we are two girls that love to dance, we also go through a lot of other stuff and emotions as well."
Although you work on your own massive club albums like 'We Got The World', would you ever collaborate with big-name DJs like David Guetta or Calvin Harris?
"We are kind of open-minded. I think it's fun when you can collaborate with people from different genres and stuff like that. If it's a good beat and we feel inspired and we want to write over it, then yeah, a collaboration might happen with a DJ. It's all about getting inspired. We went to Ultra and met some interesting people, so we might end up doing something totally crazy."
Who are your musical influences?
"We listen to kind of everything from reggae and classical music to pop music. I think we're more about sounds rather than just listening to the certain artists. We were very inspired by Prince from the beginning and then Chemical Brothers, The Knife, Patti Smith, Rihanna and Beyoncé. Then we have the very good stuff from the '90s, the one-hit wonders. They have a very special place in our hearts. It's hard to say one artist or one song but yeah, I think it's very spread."
It sounds like you've got a busy year ahead, so what have you got coming up?
"We will try to release the album as soon as possible. We're touring a lot, so that's why its been taking a bit of time, but we haven't felt any stress. We wanted it to take it's time, but it's ready now and we're wrapping it up so the album will be out soon. We will then just keep touring and be going all over the world. We hope we can do that for a very long time."
Icona Pop's new single 'I Love It' will be released in the UK on June 2 and is available to pre-order now.
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