Iceage formed in 2008, led by singer and guitarist Elias Bender Rønnenfelt, guitarist Johan Suurballe Wieth, bassist Jakob Tvilling Pless, and drummer Dan Kjær Nielsen. The quartet, whose average age at the time was 17, had been friends for years before they began making an impression with their music. In 2009, they issued their first self-titled EP, and by 2011 they'd teamed up with Tambourhinoceros Records to release their debut album, a nervy and hard-hitting set called New Brigade. When the record was issued in the United States in mid-2011, Iceage made their American debut with a performance in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2013, the band unveiled their second album, the more sophisticated but still brutal set You're Nothing, and the LP earned them a deal with the successful independent label Matador Records. In 2014, Iceage released album number three, Plowing into the Field of Love, again through Matador, marking a new creative direction for the group, with horns, keyboards, and acoustic guitars introduced into the arrangements as the songs became more dynamic and eclectic without leaving their darker side behind. The band continued that trend on their next full-length, 2018's Beyondless, although they were further influenced by Rønnenfelt's burgeoning side project Marching Church, with whom he had released two albums in between Iceage records. The group's fifth LP, Seek Shelter, arrived in May 2021. It was their first to feature external production at the hands of Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom. The next year, the band released Shake the Feeling: Outtakes & Rarities 2015-2021, a collection of songs from various periods in Iceage's evolution that, for one reason or another, were left off of albums.
Biography by Mark Deming
Official Blog
Ecstasy
Iceage Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where I really wanted to get away
From the problems that I built up
Can only see one way to make it stop
Unable - I'm too bound
I wanna get away from what I found
Each day another rock upon my head
Each night I lie awake in bed
What shade
Of joy
Will hit
Me first
I hope
It lasts
A burst
In bliss
Pressure
Pressure
Oh god no
Pressure
Adorned in carnal ecstasy
A hazy focus blurs and sharpens sight
Now my senses are leading me
A mere blow of wind could turn me into light
Hands everywhere covering me
Feels so overwhelming I can't breathe
But bliss is momentary anyhow
Yet worth living for - take me now
What shade
Of joy
Will hit
Me first
I hope
It lasts
A burst
In bliss
Pressure...
Pressure...
Pressure
Pressure
Oh god no
Pressure
Can't take this pressure
The lyrics to Iceage's song "Ecstasy" encapsulate the feeling of being trapped and overwhelmed by one's own problems, and the desperate need to escape them. The singer acknowledges that they are "bound" and "unable" to break free from these issues, which continue to weigh them down day and night. In the chorus, they ask not for a specific solution but rather for any kind of joy, any kind of relief from the constant pressure.
The second half of the song takes a sudden turn, as the singer describes an experience of "carnal ecstasy" that leaves them feeling weightless and free. They revel in the sensory overload of "hands everywhere," even as they know that this state of bliss is only temporary. Despite this knowledge, they express a willingness to be taken by this feeling, to surrender to it completely.
Overall, "Ecstasy" portrays the conflicting desires to escape from and embrace one's problems, to seek comfort in fleeting pleasures even as one struggles under the weight of pressure. It is a very human experience, one that many can relate to and find catharsis in.
Line by Line Meaning
Now there just passed on another day
Another day has just gone by.
Where I really wanted to get away
I really wanted to get away from everything.
From the problems that I built up
From the problems that I created myself.
Can only see one way to make it stop
I can only see one way to make it all stop and disappear.
Unable - I'm too bound
I can't do anything, I feel trapped.
I wanna get away from what I found
I just want to get away from all of this.
Each day another rock upon my head
Every day feels like a new burden is added to my life.
Each night I lie awake in bed
Every night I cannot sleep and my mind is racing.
A mere blow of wind could turn me into light
I feel like everything is so fragile that a small event could change everything.
Hands everywhere covering me
I feel like I'm being touched from all directions and I can't escape.
Feels so overwhelming I can't breathe
It's all too much and I feel like I can't breathe.
But bliss is momentary anyhow
I know that happiness is short-lived anyway.
Yet worth living for - take me now
But it's still worth living for, please bring me happiness now.
Pressure
I feel immense pressure.
Oh god no
This is too much to handle.
What shade of joy will hit me first
What kind of happiness will come first?
I hope it lasts a burst in bliss
I hope it lasts for just a moment of happiness.
Adorned in carnal ecstasy
I am bewitched with physical pleasure.
A hazy focus blurs and sharpens sight
I feel both confused and enlightened at the same time.
Now my senses are leading me
My senses take over, I am not in control.
Pressure
I feel immense pressure.
Can't take this pressure
I can't take this pressure anymore.
Pressure...
I feel immense pressure.
Contributed by Kennedy F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@uliseslppez5035
Now there just passed on another day
Where I really wanted to get away
From the problems that I built up
Can only see one way to make it stop
Unable - I'm too bound
I wanna get away from what I've found
Each day another rock upon my head
Each night I lie awake in bed
What shade of joy
Will hit me first
I hope it lasts
A burst in bliss
Pressure, pressure
Oh god no, pressure
Adorned in carnal ecstasy
A hazy focus blurs and sharpens sight
Now my senses are leading me
A mere blow of wind could turn me into light
Hands everywhere covering me
Feels so overwhelming I can't breathe
But bliss is momentary anyhow
Yet worth living for - take me now
[Chorus]
What shade of joy
Will hit me first
I hope it lasts
A burst in bliss
Pressure, pressure
Oh god no, pressure
Can't take this pressure
@clash4ever
There are many mysteries in the world...Why are we here? Is there a God? How big is the universe?"
My latest question is, "Why does anyone like this group?" There is no consistent hookline or interesting riff. There is certainly no melody and the video has such hackneyed themes as sex, alcohol and violence.
The video and the music are boring, especially if you know Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth like me, who could do it all better (except for the videos, which didn't exist back then).
Now I've listened to it five times in five days and it still sucks.
Listen to "Holidays In Cambodia" by the Dead Kennedys, for example. It's also noise, but at least it has a cool riff and a melody.
@LennyLaserdisk
The contrast between ice age today and back then is amazing
@WocklessGamingforAnimeMoms
Sadly
@knuckledragger5493
i must be the only one who adores both eras of iceage
@LennyLaserdisk
@@knuckledragger5493 me too
@archxofxroses
still adore this band as much as I did 10 years ago, in all their different forms
@theneedledrop
YEAHHHHH
@WocklessGamingforAnimeMoms
Anthony Fantano is a Hammer-skin confirmed.
@WocklessGamingforAnimeMoms
(Or just media illiterate but we all already knew that one)
@nuffzed2001
these guys were one of the most confusing and visceral gigs I've been to
@user-op1jv7dh8r
Best era of iceage. I was obsessed with them when this came out