Taking Up Space
Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt make you pay attention. Not because they’re performing—they’re doing the opposite. They take up space without apologizing for it, and that’s the kind of confidence that stops you in your tracks. Icona Pop embody something rare: female power without any of the theater. No soft edges, no trying to make it palatable. Just two Swedish women who know exactly what they want and couldn’t care less whether you’re listening.
They made I Love It
years ago, which got beaten to death in advertisements until hearing it again feels like remembering a trauma. But they’re too good for that to stick. The song survives because they mean it.
Brightside
is their new track. It’s light and direct about girl friendship—not trying to make a statement, just acknowledging that this matters: having someone you don’t have to explain yourself to. The kind of clarity and simplicity that most artists would overcomplicate, and Icona Pop just… don’t.
What hooks me is the refusal to perform. They make what they want without asking permission. You hear it everywhere—the ease, the certainty. That’s the whole thing. They don’t perform being women. They just are. And somehow that’s become the most riveting thing about them.