On Communicate Daggers, devotion is a damaging power, likened to bolts, bricks, and razor blades. “I like you/I damage you even higher,” Rønnenfelt sings on “Mona Lisa,” the file’s most devastating and danceable observe. It opens with a blitz of gunshots; sharply bowed violins reduce by way of its refrain as Rønnenfelt raps about traditional art work falling into disrepair as a metaphor for descent into habit. “Crush the Devils Head” is one other gradual spiral into the inferno, the place the delusion that one is proof against evil is as seductive as evil itself. “Crush the satan’s head/Lord is aware of he’s made a satan out of you,” Rønnenfelt slurs. A syrupy drum beat underscores all of it, often sputtering out or jerking awake. “Love How It Feels” inches towards conclusions (“This era’s not free”), however winds up too obscure to really feel full. “USA Child” is the stronger single; Rønnenfelt has stated it’s sung from the angle of a non-American watching their American companion endure below the nation’s regressive insurance policies. The clank of chains within the foreground feels apt for an apocalyptic love track concerning the demise rattle of an empire.
The sexually and spiritually charged post-punk that characterised Rønnenfelt’s work with Iceage has taken a slower, moodier flip in his solo materials. Chugging rhythm sections that after catapulted him by way of motormouthed choruses now snag and stretch, usually punctuated by high-pitched “ooh-oohhhh” ad-libs. Whereas his vocal supply on Communicate Daggers skews extra Lil Peep than Nick Cave, his songwriting stays involved with violence, corruption, and holy turmoil. “If this can be a jail, then the world is one,” he declares on “World Jail,” the track that almost all resembles Iceage’s ragged punk poetry, now painstakingly stretched throughout Communicate Daggers as Rønnenfelt carves out a distinct segment within the grey area between folks, post-punk, and cloud rap. He’s Denmark’s resident bard of disaffection, however there aren’t any winners right here. Every demise is a mercy killing, every victory pyrrhic.
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