Elias Rønnenfelt - Heavy Glory

Having spent the greater part of two decades fronting restless Danish rockers Iceage, that Elias Rønnenfelt would refuse to tie himself down to one sound on this solo debut is not surprising. But there was somehow always a cohesiveness to his band’s output that doesn’t quite pan out through ‘Heavy Glory’. It’s almost as if the record has been pieced together from three parts: first, a series of demos (which may indeed fit with the record having begun its life during the singer’s series of low-key fan-booked gigs throughout 2020); second, a handful of tracks that posit Elias as a scratchy, troubadour Mick Jagger (a look which suits him completely, pun intended); and third, a pair of gorgeously-recorded and perfectly delivered cover versions (Spacemen 3’s ‘Walking With Jesus’, retitled ‘Sound of Confusion’, and Townes van Zandt’s ‘No Place To Fall’). Unfortunately, these follow a series of tracks on which Elias tries on others’ identities a little too obviously: the Lou Reed bassline of ‘No One Else’, the Nick Cave gothic of ‘Doomsday Childsplay’ and most obviously ‘Another Round’ on which both vocal and music owe a debt to Primal Scream’s ‘Movin’ On Up’. Musically, where Iceage’s often impenetrable layers surrounded Elias’s vocal and mirrored its ebb and flow, its centre stage focus here instead too often offers a wayward flail. The delivery, too, of lyrics surrounding substance abuse may intend to echo songwriters past, but their directness – and hint of faded glamour – instead sound dated in 2024: “Fucked just like the dealer when the easy cards been dealt” (‘No One Else’); “Storming out a cloud of X, K and cocaine” (‘Like Lovers Do’); “Hit the bottle, wash it down / While there’s still time for another round” (‘Another Round’). These then make ‘Stalker’, a track ostensibly written based on an abandoned novel, just straightforwardly icky in tone.

That somewhere in ‘Worm Grew A Spine’ (which is let down by a chintzy, rudimentary backing), Elias (re?)emerges as a Mick Jagger-Julian Casablancas hybrid with just a lick more folk – arguably a natural step forward from what he’s performed as for 16 years – is possibly too little, too late for the album as a whole. But among this handful of tracks is where this version of Elias – travelling singer-songwriter, lost soul, perpetually brooding man in a dark overcoat, whoever he opts to project – makes perfect sense. The ‘60s bluesy pop of ‘Unarmed’ is an ideal case in point, its nostalgic melancholy working in tandem with his dark lyricism, while his abrasive vocal and that of guest Joanne Robertson clash to curious effect on the folkish ‘River of Madelaine’. The covers, meanwhile, are not only perfectly pitched but lusciously recorded, ‘Sound of Confusion’ a warm, pleading take, while ‘No Place To Fall’ finds the ideal level of stripped-back for Elias’ vocals, as the soft Americana evokes the work of Conor Oberst. In short, there’s arguably a decent EP here, but as an album ‘Heavy Glory’ is a jumbled disappointment.