Track By Track: EMMON – ICON

I’ve long been a fan of EMMON’s take on electronic music, a high-energy sound that often looks to EBM, electro, and techno to deliver experiences that are intense emotionally and occasionally sonically.  

Those themes shine through on her ICON album, as EMMON – Swedish musician Emma Nylén – brings the listener on a journey over its ten songs. They’re not connected by one overall lyrical theme, but ICON is best enjoyed by listening to it in full, in the order it was created, to truly appreciate where it takes you from its upbeat opener to its reflective final moments. We’d like to thank EMMON for providing us with this insight into the album’s creation.

Neon Brown

For this album, we wanted the concept to flow seamlessly from start to finish. That’s why we chose an opening track that’s just powerful enough to set the pulse and inject energy into the entire record.

The lyrics explore how we overconsume our resources and, in doing so, slowly orchestrate the end of our own existence.

Decisions

Decisions was one of the very first tracks we created for the new album, and it has largely remained in its original form since the day I wrote it — except for some added tonal percussion created in collaboration with Jukka Rintamäki (Silverbullit, The Northern East).

We even kept the vocals from the original demo recordings. Lyrically, the track tells the story of a high-achieving perfectionist who seizes every chance to reach a higher level, yet remains unable to make the crucial calls that matter most, creating a frozen, status quo moment.

Shades of Blue

This track is both a tribute and a heartfelt homage to the artists and influences that have shaped the history of electronic music, a legacy that runs like a red thread through our musical DNA.

Deeply inspired by Depeche Mode’s late 80s and early 90s era, the song’s lyrics tell the story of reaching out to someone who has lost themselves in darkness and despair.

Cold Within

This song is the result of experimenting with different sounds and technical approaches in the studio; what started as playful exploration unexpectedly evolved into a cool sound, and eventually, into a finished track with my vocals and lyrics upon that.

The lyrics are a reflection on the complexities and consequences of affection that isn’t freely given, but rather forced upon someone, both on an emotional and a physical level.

No Mans Land

This track quite literally poured out of me at the same time as conflicts around the world were escalating, with cities, countries, and lives being torn apart.

I wanted to capture a snapshot from inside a civilian attack: a moment that reflects what happens and what remains in the aftermath. The song explores how we compete for spaces that should be made for humanity by destroying humanity itself.

Speak to Me

The content of the track is a mantra about refusing to live up to the world’s unreasonable and contradictory beauty ideals that are constantly pumped out through social media.

When our screens act like the ‘mirror on the wall’, it doesn’t matter how much you twist and turn, because those ideals don’t reflect reality; you’ll never be good enough anyway.

Blood on the Ceiling feat. Majestoluxe

Our version of Blood on the Ceiling is a remake of the original track I created together with the Swedish artist Majestoluxe. In the original, Conny (Majestoluxe) composed the music, while I wrote the lyrics and performed the vocals.

EMMON’s version is more tailored for the dance floor. The lyrics are inspired by a well-known serial killer who chose to keep parts, sometimes even the heads, of their victims as trophies.

Relics

The foundation of this song has been with us for quite some time, taking on several different forms but never quite finding its true shape.

We felt it needed to be complemented by a dark male voice, and the only one we thought would fit belonged to Emanuel Åström from the Swedish industrial band Agent Side Grinder. We tried it, and it worked instantly. Some parts were totally improvised in the studio during the vocal recording session.

DARK

This track is the anthem from the EP XCEPTION, which was released in 2024. Since then, we’ve played it live many times, and it continues to grow on us, which is why we chose to include it on the album as well.

DARK is about vampirism and/or a person’s unhealthy obsession with their partner, where the need for closeness goes too far. It’s a story of desperation and madness that can end in destruction—or even in a sudden, sinister death.

Slow Running

This was the last song we created for the album. We felt there was a missing piece, so we tried to analyze what was needed to complete the whole album concept. That feeling led me to write both the music and the lyrics in a single evening.

I handed the demo over to Jimmy, who gave it the right sound, and by the next day, it was finished. Everything happened very quickly, but it felt like we had found exactly the right piece to complete the album.

ICON is out now via Icons Creating Evil Art and is available in vinyl, CD, and digital options on Bandcamp. It’s also streaming on YouTube Music and Spotify.

EMMON holds release parties for the LP tonight in Gothenburg and tomorrow in Stockholm. (I’ll be seeing her at Amphi next year!) For details of those live events and upcoming festival appearances, be sure to follow EMMON on Facebook or Instagram.

Header photo by KWON