In many ways, Icona Pop has created a slightly more risqué, electro-charged version of the Spice Girls’ friendship-focused, rose-colored world.
This Is…Icona Pop is a consistently fun album, and it would be even without their big single.
This Is…Icona Pop is a pleasant surprise: it's something more than just 11 tracks of padding around an undeniable hit.
By a careful balance of producers, personality, and expectation-handling, This Is... succeeds where most modern pop records fail: it's a nurturing, exciting, and very intelligent debut.
This Is… Icona Pop is a worthwhile listen because it doesn’t dumb down. It’s not trying to enlighten, either. It’s trying to help you get in touch with your body, with positive emotions, and yourself in general, which is surely worthy of praise.
Nearly every song has that sugary/savory mix, and although it's by now a familiar recipe, Icona Pop and their almost exclusively Scandinavian collaborators almost always ace it.
While most of the concerns expressed in This Is… seem wafer-thin, the innovative production and diamond-hard songcraft suggest something else entirely. Icona Pop has few equals in the current landscape when it comes to immaculately crafted radio-dance music.
They may be self-described nineties bitches, but Icona Pop have developed mastery over a sound that is nothing if not belonging entirely to the now.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing is that while This Is… showcases a few worthy songs outside of the song, there’s also a fair amount of filler, tracks largely interchangeable with one another even after a few listens.
This Is... Icona Pop isn't a bad album by any means - it's galloping, carefree abandon is often infectious - but few of its songs leave much of an impression beyond ephemeral ear candy.
It’s not wrong to enjoy the group as a guilty pleasure ... However, in terms of actually deriving some sort of non-superficial satisfaction from an album, This Is… Icona Pop unfortunately won’t satisfy anyone’s fix.
The Swedish duo’s full-throated hedonism made for a smashing single in ”I Love It,” but it proves to be too much of a good thing on their full-length debut.
Round after round, This Is... Icona Pop gifts powerful anthems for a diversity of emotions' oceans. Alongside the 11 tracks, no one seems to ruin off the overall conception, it hooks even if the watered-down parts pop up, and as the lyrics behind the songs say, all is about to have fun, so this LP is the right choice to feel it.
FAVS: I Love It, All Night, Girlfriend, In the Stars, Just Another Night, Then We Kiss
LEAST FAV: Hold On
This objectively is not a great album, but it’s just so much fun and has such a nostalgic sound that I can’t help but like it. I Love It is the obvious standout with it being one of the most Iconic songs of the year, and even some of the B-sides are excellent.
<3 I Love It, All Night, Hold On, Then We Kiss
1 - I Love It - 9/10 ✨
2 - All Night - 6.5/10
3 - We Got The World - 6.5/10
4 - Ready for the Weekend - 7.5/10
5 - Girlfriend - 9/10 ✨
6 - In the Stars - 8/10 ✨
7 - On a Roll - 7.5/10
8 - Just Another Night - 6.5/10
9 - Hold On - 7/10
10 - Light Me Up - 6/10
11 - Then We Kiss - 7.5/10
Score; 73
1 | I Love It 2:37 feat. Charli XCX | 89 |
2 | All Night 3:07 | 85 |
3 | We Got the World 3:07 | 78 |
4 | Ready for the Weekend 2:42 | 80 |
5 | Girlfriend 2:51 | 70 |
6 | In the Stars 3:17 | 63 |
7 | On a Roll 3:12 | 45 |
8 | Just Another Night 3:09 | 65 |
9 | Hold On 3:18 | 43 |
10 | Light Me Up 3:20 | 58 |
11 | Then We Kiss 2:18 | 48 |
#20 | / | Amazon |
#31 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
#60 | / | PopMatters |