Music
Most read
Latest
-
Strange Rewards: Cate Le Bon Dropped Out Of Music And Made A Mercury-Nominated Masterpiece
At the start of the summer, talk of Cate Le Bon’s beautifully formed new LP ‘Reward’ spread like wildfire. Lauded for its careful production, earworm melodies that unfold at a languid pace, poetic and revealing lyrics and striking arrangements, it was a…
-
Flow State: Hrím Is Ready To Thrill At Iceland Airwaves
“For a long time, this project has been extremely self-indulgent,” admits Ösp Eldjárn, somewhat bashfully. The project in question is Hrím, a collaboration between herself and fellow musicians Anil Sebastian and Cherif Hashizume. Musically, they bring together a variety of different styles,…
-
Grapevine Playlist: ZÖE, Stefán Elí, PORT & More!
ZÖE – Summer Funeral Zöe will be the perfect medicine for those who once loved Evanescence but maybe won’t admit it. “Summer Funeral,” her debut track, is a soaring, melodic and perhaps accidentally gothic af track that wouldn’t feel out of place…
-
That Time 15% Of Iceland Went To See Ed Sheeran
When the news broke that Ed Sheeran was going to play at Laugardalsvöllur in August, Icelanders broke a national record, buying over 30,000 tickets within minutes. Keep in mind that 30,000 is 10% of the nation. Sena Live, the organisers, promptly added…
-
Mentally Sound: Hugar Back With Long-Awaited Second Album
Bergur Þórisson and Pétur Jónsson, the multi-instrumentalists responsible for the rich and dreamy sounds of Hugar, are sitting down to talk prior to the release of their long-awaited second album. ‘Varða,’ which comes out on August 28th. It’s been five years in…
-
The Unknown Ranger: Orville Peck Rides Into Town For Airwaves
Orville Peck has a lot of thoughts about identity, which you might consider odd coming from a masked, pseudonym-adopting country musician who never plans on revealing his own. The masks—somewhere between Zorro and a BDSM Lone Ranger—are handmade by Orville himself. He’s…
-
The Renegade Mister: Mr. Silla Returns With A Pop Banger
Mr. Silla’s new single is an unexpected pop banger. A far cry from the largely downtempo and emotional sound of her eponymous 2015 debut, “Naruto (say you wanna run away)” is three and a half minutes of unabashedly summery dance-pop. Its carefree…
-
DJ Playlist: Yamaho Lines Up Páll Óskar, GusGus And ILO
Natalie G. Gunnarsdóttir is better known as Yamaho, a respected veteran DJ on the Reykjavík scene. Known for propulsive sets that set the dancefloor alight, she’s been a staple DJ at many of the city’s best spots since starting out at legendary…
-
Zaar’s Playground: A Danish Artist Who Creates New Instruments
Sara Flindt is a 22-year-old singer-songwriter-producer born in Silkeborg, Denmark. She moved to Aarhus to study music when she was 18, and has spent the past year studying music at FÍH music school in Reykjavík. Her recent work—created as alter-ego ZAAR—has been…
-
New Icelandic Music: Countess Malaise, SiGRÚN, sideproject ++
Like waking up with nine extra arms that have been tidying up your house and doing your taxes while you were asleep, here are the nine new tracks from the Icelandic music scene that caught our attention—for better, or for worse—this month.…
-
Everything Will Be All Right: K.óla On Her New Album & Playing With Björk
K.óla is Katrín Ólafsdóttir, a 22-year-young artist who just released her anticipated new album ‘Allt verður alltílæ.’ It features seven heartfelt songs, full of cool bass riffs, catchy melodies and honest lyrics. And it’s all thanks to chocolate and boring piano practices.…
-
Icelandic Music News: Innipúkinn Festival Is Go!, MYRKFÆLNI 3 Released & More
The many-splendored Icelandic music scene continues to grow and evolve apace, like No Face from Spirited Away when it was eating everything and turning into a cool giant monster. Except, not like that all. Because it’s not gonna eat you. Much. Here’s…
-
All Day, Everyday: Rapper 24/7 Is Here To Stay
“Seplar ljúka,” “Hvað er planið,” and “Tvöfalt glas.” Three songs. All hits. Together racking up nearly a quarter of a million plays. The common denominator? A feature by rapper 24/7. 24/7 (real name Hafþór Sindri) is, arguably, one of the biggest stars…
-
Grapevine Playlist: Auður, Birgir, Skaði, Singapore Sling & More
What’s new in Icelandic Music you ask? Many, many things. Singapore Sling – Suicide Twist Take some classic 80s goth vocals, add a drum machine and some grunge guitars and wham, bam, a wild Singapore Sling appears. ‘Suicide Twist,’ the first single…
-
DJ Playlist: Z Is An Icelandic DJ Who Listens To The Gods
Óskar Þór Argrímsson—who performs as Z—is one of Reykjavík’s most eclectic DJs. His sets can contain anything from unfamiliar Eastern scales to brass band renditions, cover versions of classics, oddball curios and futuristic electronica. We asked him to line up a few…
-
The Future Sound Of Iceland: Hermigervill Releases Two Albums In Six Months
Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably heard the music of Sveinbjörn Thorarensen. A producer, solo artist, master collaborator, multi-instrumental live performer, remixer, composer for dance performances, and more, he’s been involved in a dizzying variety of projects for over a…
-
West Coast Summer Sound: Wholesome Fun In A Lost Village At Post-Dreifing’s Hátiðni Festival
Google translate told me that the word ‘Hátiðni’ meant ‘radio’ but my friend shook her head when I told her. “It’s more like noise,” she said. “Like static.” “Hátið” also means “festival,” meaning “Hátiðni” is a play-on-words and also the name of…
-
Electric Dreams: Icelandic Producer Fruit On His Danceable Music And Copenhagen Connection
Over the past couple years, Anton Sandholt—Icelandic DJ, musician and event promoter—has been making his mark in Copenhagen’s dance music scene. His music productions, under his moniker Fruit, range from spiritual soundscapes to melodic club-ready dance tracks. He also co-hosts event-series Normal…
-
Electric Dreams: Jónbjörn On Life, The Future And Reykjavík’s Dance Music Scene
The audible and visual subsistence of music is undeniable. Jónbjörn Finnbogason—also known as JB and one-half of house music label Lagaffe Tales—is a creative who works within both worlds as a music producer, DJ, label-manager, promoter and designer. Design and Music He…
-
Making Of An Artist: Smoke, Carbon, And A Love Supreme With Úlfur Hansson
Úlfur Hansson is a Brooklyn-based solo musician, film composer and sound artist. He has released three albums—2008’s ‘Sweaty Psalms,’ followed by ‘White Mountain’ (2013) and ‘Arborescence’ (2017). He has also performed and collaborated with Gyða Valtýsdóttir, Nordic Affect, Kronos Quartet, and Jónsi,…
-
Come Into The Chamber: Reykholt’s Civilised Summer Music Festival
Since its founding in 1997, the Reykholt Chamber Music Festival has become one of Iceland’s most treasured classical music events, and, in 2018, its reputation was cemented with a nod from the Icelandic Music Awards. This year, the festival runs from July…
-
Norðanpaunk Returns For The 6(66)th Time, For The Love Of Extremes
These words have been written before, and so they shall be again: Norðanpaunk is an event like no other. The annual gathering of the Icelandic punk community spans three days and boasts no less than 50 local and international bands. It is…
-
Grapevine Playlist: K.ola, Múm Vs. Kronos Quartet, ADHD, Hjaltalín, Hermigervill
Live seven lightning bolts striking your prefrontal cortex, here are the latest electrifying phenomena to appear from within the Icelandic music scene. Krassasig – Brjóta Heilann One half of art-pop duo Munster, Krassasig’s debut single ‘Brjóta Heilann’ is a bright, breezy, and…