Icona Pop

Biography

Icona Pop (English: eye-KON-ə POP) are a Swedish synth-pop duo that formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences. Its two members, Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986) and Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987), grew up in Stockholm and created what the Swedish press has described as music which "you can both laugh and cry to at the same time". They signed to TEN Music Group in 2009 and are currently also in a label deal with Ultra Music. Their biggest hit to date has been "I Love It".

Beginning

Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987, of a Swedish mother and Sweden-Finnish father) and Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986, of a Finnish mother and Gambian father) attended the same music school in Stockholm, but met by chance at a party in February 2009 and formed the duo. Four weeks later, they had written songs for their first performance. Two years later, the two described their music as "classical pop melodies with drums and synths".
The English-language press, including NME, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork Media, have praised the duo. The Guardian described the debut single "Manners×Manners2010 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAMannersBTop Rated" as "effortlessly cool". The duo have worked in the studio with producers including Style of Eye, Patrik Berger (Robyn), Elof Loelv (Niki & The Dove) and Starsmith.
In fall 2012, they released an extended play Iconic in the US and the album Icona Pop in Sweden. The duo have performed in the aforementioned countries as well as countries such as the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada and Hong Kong, and have also been interviewed by members of the Swedish and worldwide press.

2012–2013: Breakthrough with "I Love It" and This Is... Icona Pop

In the summer of 2012, they took part in a number of festivals including electro music festival Summerburst in Gothenburg and also appeared at the Stockholm Stadium, at the start of an international festival and broadcast via Sveriges Television (SVT).
"I Love It", a pre-release of their self-titled debut album Icona Pop charted on Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish singles chart. The song, which features vocals from British recording artist Charli XCX, was also featured in the 2012 video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted, in a German television commercial for Coca-Cola Light in January 2013, the theme song to the MTV reality-television series Snooki & JWoww, and in an episode of the HBO comedy-drama television series Girls and the popular vampire-teen drama television series The Vampire Diaries. The second single "Ready for the Weekend×Ready for the Weekend11 September 2012 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Ready for the Weekend (club mix)6:182Ready for the Weekend (dub)6:33" was released on 11 September 2012. Both tracks appear on their second EP, released on 16 October 2012. "I Love It" was also used in the commercial for the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Their EP Iconic EP×Iconic EP16 October 2012 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1I Love It2:372Ready for the Weekend2:413Good for You3:294Manners3:325Top Rated2:586Sun Goes Down3:147Manners (Style of Eye remix)6:038I Love It (Apocalypto remix)6:14 peaked at No. 21 on the U.S. iTunes dance chart. In 2013, they embarked on a tour of the United States with Passion Pit and Matt & Kim. In January 2013, "I Love It" was featured in the third episode of the second season of Girls, the comedy-drama series created by Lena Dunham. Two months later, the duo was named one of Fuse's 30 must-see artists at the South by Southwest festival. The same month, "I Love It" was featured in the 16th episode of the fourth season, "Bring It On", of The Vampire Diaries. On 26 March 2013, "I Love It" was performed on the week 2 results episode of Dancing with the Stars. On 3 May 2013, the duo performed "I Love It" on the NBC late-night talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and on ABC's Good Morning America morning news/entertainment show. Three days later, "I Love It" was featured in the Fox musical-comedy series, Glee. The song was performed by the "New Directions" in Glee's 22nd and final episode of season four, "All or Nothing". It was also featured in a 2013 ShoeDazzle commercial.
On 19 May 2013, the duo performed "I Love It" at the Billboard Music Awards, wearing custom lit outfits by designer Geoffrey Mac. The song was featured in a commercial for the WNBA's forthcoming season that was aired during the 4th quarter of Game 7 of the Heat-Pacers Eastern Conference Championship game on 3 June 2013. It was also featured in a commercial during the Spurs-Heat basketball game on 9 June 2013.
On 4 June 2013, the duo released their single "Girlfriend×Girlfriend4 June 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Girlfriend2:50". Icona Pop revealed in an interview that they recorded their international album with all new songs. They said that "the new album isn't just going to be sixteen tracks like 'I Love It'" and that they are trying new genres and sounds. In July 2013, they received two Teen Choice awards for Choice Music Breakout Group and Choice Single: Group.
On 28 July 2013, "All Night×All Night23 July 2013 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1All Night3:07" was released as the official third single from the album. It gained moderate success on European charts. On 4 August 2013, the duo visited Montreal, where they performed at the Osheaga Festival. They also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in December of that year.

2014–present

On 23 June 2014, the duo released a new single called "Get Lost×Get Lost23 June 2014 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Get Lost2:562Get Lost (instrumental)2:56" which gained less international attention. In the same period, the duo also performed as the opening act for Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus tours. They also collaborated with Tiesto for the song "Let's Go" and with Cobra Starship for the single "Never Been in Love×Never Been in Love25 August 2014 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Never Been in Love3:43" which became a successful hit in Italy.
On 26 May 2015, the duo released the single "Emergency×Emergency26 May 2015 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Emergency2:49", a collaboration with Erik Hassle. The song peaked a few weeks later on the Billboard Dance Chart, making their second single to top that chart after All Night. The song was also featured in the video game FIFA 16. In July, the EP Emergency was released. It includes the critically acclaimed First Time and the smash-hit Clap Snap.
The duo was announced as an opening act for the North American leg of One Direction's "On the Road Again" tour in 2015. Also in 2015, their song "We Got The World×We Got the World15 October 2012 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1We Got the World (radio edit)3:082We Got the World3:173We Got the World (long version)3:24" was featured in the movie Pitch Perfect 2. On 23 February 2016, Icona Pop performed a new single, "Someone Who Can Dance×Someone Who Can Dance25 February 2016 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Someone Who Can Dance2:52" at the Grammis in Stockholm.
On 20 October 2016, the duo released their single "Brightside×Brightside21 October 2016 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Brightside2:51". On 16 June 2017, Icona Pop released a new single "GIRLS GIRLS×GIRLS GIRLS16 June 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1GIRLS GIRLS2:49", co-written by Tove Lo. In October 2017, they released a song with Australian duo Peking Duk called "Let You Down×Let You Down13 October 2017 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Let You Down3:37". In late December 2017, the duo released an EP called "Så mycket bättre 2017 – Tolkningarna" including 7 covered songs. In early March 2018, the duo collaborated with Avon on a music video called "All My Girls". In late April 2018, the duo was featured on a song called "Faded Away×Faded Away27 April 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Faded Away3:00" by Sweater Beats. In late May 2018, Icona Pop said on their social media that they were currently working on their third studio album. In June 2019 the duo performed at St. Louis Pridefest. Icona Pop released a song with R3hab called "This Is How We Party×This Is How We Party8 February 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1This Is How We Party2:28" on 8 February 2019. On 26 July 2019, the duo returned with the first single from their upcoming third studio album – "Next Mistake×Next Mistake26 July 2019 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Next Mistake3:12". The duo have signed to Ultra Music as of 2019.
Icona Pop released their third studio album Club Romantech×Club Romantech1 September 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Fall in Love2:232Desire2:393Shit We Do for Love2:484Stick Your Tongue Out2:475Make Your Mind Up Babe2:126Stockholm at Night3:037Where Do We Go From Here2:518I Want You2:279Loving You Ain’t Easy2:3510Need You2:3111Off of My Mind2:4512Faster3:0113You’re Free2:4714Feels in My Body2:3915Spa3:20 in September 2023 through Swedish independent record label TEN Music Group and Ultra. The album marks the duo's first studio release in ten years.