Elias Ronnenfelt - EU/UK 2026

Speak Daggers is the title of Elias Rønnenfelt’s second solo album. It was conceived and recorded at home in the in-betweens of a year-long tour schedule. Where Heavy Glory felt like a culmination of his evolution from Iceage’s explosive songwriting to something more close-up, this new release marks another step and like many of his inspirations for the record, it began with the simple act of fooling around with new equipment, and then took shape through the self-taught ingenuity and eclectic style that run through all of Elias writing.

The collaborations are one of many examples of the varied sources that fed into the record, featuring guest appearances by Fine, Erika de Casier, and The Congos & Ijahbar. The album is filled with blown-out breaks, clanging guitars, field recordings, and textured sound collages. Verses surge and loop back into choruses that almost rudely interrupt earlier melodies. Drum machine patterns blur with live snare crashes, and cut-up samples of his own guitar weave through all the sound.

Elias’s lyrics are knots that pull you in as you listen. As the title suggests, Speak Daggers is sharp in its wit. On "Blunt Force Trauma," featuring Erika de Casier, he delivers a flattened spoken-word: "Blunt force trauma with the speed of the lick / Head first collision batter body and brick / Blunt force trauma, smack a bolt from the blue / Sodom or Gomorrah shapes a catch-22."
Songs written with blunt force.