Happy New Music Friday. Below is a list of the top albums and singles out this week. Add these records to a playlist this weekend.
The Best of New Music Friday:
Danish rock badboys Iceage once dropped albums that made it sound like they were born with visions of weeping and gnashing teeth in their heads, which is crazy considering the band now sounds like the prettiest, danciest, yet (still) deadliest rock group alive. Not enough metaphors for you? For the love of Go–no! For Love of Grace & the Hereafter, Iceage’s first album of all new original material in five years, is already up for debate as being the band’s best work. It’s been well worth the wait.
On that fateful day of March 11, 2026, rock fans opened social media to see a black image with Iceage’s logo depicted on it. Seconds later, a quick drum fill struck a nerve, and then bending guitar chords were also struck, all before singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s trademark voice took over this brand new single, “Star.”
“Mow ’em down in spite, sway the scythe // Eating cyanide, wear ’em like a surgical gown,” Rønnenfelt sang, before two quick claps carried this lyrically horrific but sonically beautiful sounding track to the next part of its first verse. “With a pint of lead in my head, out amongst the dead // Loving that I long lost the count,” our protagonist added, in case it wasn’t clear the band would rather be six feet under than anywhere else.
That outstanding lead track from the group wasn’t all they had up their sleeves. They also shared the songs “Ember” and “The Weak,” which repeatedly shouted the band’s apparent collective belief that “life is for, life is for, life is for the weak,” insinuating that the strongest people who have ever lived are dead, or should die. This is not an endorsement of the band’s ideology, but it is a chance to understand what Iceage have always been about. Suffering, death, nothing good, it’s all on the table when asking Iceage the question “what do you desire?”
The band’s first few albums are filled with punky riffs with these sorts of lyrics on top of them. But the band’s magnificent run of avant-garde, piano, banjo and fuzzy bass laden records dare to plug these types of fiendish and hellish lyrics right into listeners’ ears. It’s one of the boldest moves a band can make, but fuck single-action bold moves. Iceage has made their whole career out of making endless ones.
Plowing into the Field of Love was a major switch up. Beyondless was a rock fan’s dream. Seek Shelter was a dive headfirst into dreamland. For Love of Grace & the Hereafter is a diamond mine, with outstanding songs like “Match Head Girl” and “Tender Blades” plus just about everything else.
New Music Friday Top Picks:
Ariana Grande – “hate that i made you love me” [Republic]
Boards Of Canada – Inferno [Warp]
Paul McCartney – The Boys of Dungeon Lane [MPL/Capitol]
Willie Nelson – Dream Chaser [Legacy Records]
Young M.A. – Kween [M.A. Music / 3D]
Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you add to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Instagram!
Ben is a music journalist living and working in Chicago. They joined Beyond The Stage as an intern and have stayed on the staff for several years. Now serving on the editorial board, Ben is proud to be BTS’ Music Projects Manager, coordinating coverage between international record labels and our staff. Ben has interviewed, photographed and written about bands from across the world. Ben has lived all over the United States working in television and media. They are an Emmy Award-winning writer. Ben can be found spinning records as ‘DJ Wearing Sunglasses’ in clubs and basements across the US.
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