Icona Pop Drop New Album "RITUAL" With Fall Tour

Icona Pop have released their new album Ritual as a full-length album on August 14, 2026, via Ultra Records and Iconic Sound Recordings. The duo, Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, also dropped an official visualizer for the album's focus single "Hurt," co-directed by Icona Pop and Nicole Walker.

Ritual is a 10-track project and follows CLUB ROMANTECH, their 2023 return after a decade away from full-length releases. Where CLUB ROMANTECH was their reintroduction, Ritual is the deeper cut: the record the duo made while both were becoming mothers, moving back to Sweden after years in Los Angeles, and working through heartbreak and anxiety in the studio.

What Is On the Ritual Album and Who Is Featured

The album runs 10 tracks. The full tracklist is:

1. Hurt 2. Ritual (feat. Daya) 3. Dance To This 4. Butterfly Feelings 5. Cooler 6. Yellow Top 7. Mad Love 8. Didn't Mean It Like That 9. Never Over 10. Foreverness

Daya, the Pittsburgh-born singer known for her collaboration with The Chainsmokers on "Don't Let Me Down," appears on the title track. "Hurt," "Yellow Top," "Ritual" (feat. Daya), "Dance To This," and "Butterfly Feelings" were all released ahead of the album drop. The album is out now on all major streaming platforms.

The visualizer for "Hurt" is available on Icona Pop's YouTube channel. The song opens with sparse piano and a fractured vocal loop before building into a bass-heavy drop. Caroline describes it directly: "It's written from the perspective of letting go and starting to move on. It's a vulnerable track about the process of saying goodbye. The message is, 'Even though you hurt me, I'm still alive. I can look back at memories and think they were beautiful. I wonder if you see it the same way. I hope you do.'" She adds: "'Hurt' is not an angry song about revenge. It's a song about brutal acceptance of being left by the one you love. It hurts, but you're realizing that you're going to be fine and you're letting go. When the song reaches climax at the end, it almost feels like you're out on the other side dancing with your friends again still hurt but also happy."

On the album as a whole, the duo said: "The whole journey with Ritual was us being in the studio with people that made us feel safe enough to stay in the uncomfortable and explore. We had no rules making this album. All feelings were welcome, and that felt very liberating. That's why the album sounds so honest. Writing the album became very therapeutic and important to be able to move forward and heal."

The press release does not name the producers on the album.

When Icona Pop Play the U.S. and Where to Get Tickets

The North American run begins September 25 and hits four cities before the duo head to Scandinavia. All shows are general admission club venues. Tickets are on sale now at iconapop.com/tour.

U.S. Tour Dates, September 25, Baby's All Right, Brooklyn, NY, October 2, Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL, November 20, TBA, Las Vegas, NV, November 21, Moroccan Lounge, Los Angeles, CA

Scandinavian Tour Dates, October 23, Pustervik, Göteborg, Sweden, October 24, Mejeriet, Lund, Sweden, October 30, Vulkan Arena, Oslo, Norway, November 6, Arbis Bar and Salong, Norrköping, Sweden, November 7, Berns, Stockholm, Sweden, November 13, Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Los Angeles show at the Moroccan Lounge on November 21 is the one local to the SDFTP community. If you want to track that date or find other shows in the area, check the [SDFTP events calendar](/events).

Icona Pop have been playing venues at this size since their early career and returned to them for CLUB ROMANTECH in 2023. The club format fits where the music lives: the duo came up as club kids in Stockholm and have always built their records around the dancefloor.

Caroline puts the record's purpose plainly: "It's okay to not be okay, but still go out and dance. It's okay to be where you are right now. Find your rituals, find your friends, and find your energy." Aino adds: "Go dance, move your body, meet people, hug, kiss, and don't hide."

What Independent Artists Can Take From This Campaign

Icona Pop spent the period between CLUB ROMANTECH (2023) and Ritual (2026) releasing singles steadily, five of which became album cuts with built-in audiences before the album even dropped. That rollout strategy meant the album had streaming history attached to it before anyone had to evaluate it as a new project. If you are building toward a project release, [submit your music to SDFTP](/submit) and think about which songs you release early not just as singles but as future album anchors.