From Iceland — My Summer as a Salvation Soldier

Published August 18, 2008

The twelve songs on Activism, an album wracked with emotion and subtle diatribe, are arguably some of the best tracks to be released in Iceland this year. Ranging from the low-key acoustic composition of ‘Hey Mom’, which features banjo accompaniment by Ólöf Arnalds and poetic lyrics that bring a lump to your throat, to the Hüsker Dü influenced scratchy brilliance of ‘How Are You?’, this is a record that’s very well written (both lyrically and musically), highly engaging and mysterious enough to become a fixture on anyone’s playlist for some time.
     Perhaps the album’s strongest point is its variety. Each song seems to follow an entirely separate aesthetic with a variety of instruments and influences, such as the layered vocals and glockenspiel on the distinctly Icelandic post-rock sounding ‘I Try’, marking the individual tracks in a way that demands your attention several times over.

• THE VERDICT A magnificent meeting of alternative rock, folk and acoustic influences packaged with some excellent song writing. listen & buy www.myspace.com/ mysummerasasalvationsoldier