From Iceland — Mainland

Published September 7, 2015

I put on Lily The Kid’s EP, ‘Mainland’, early in the morning. As Lilja’s ethereal voice emerged, a housemate remarked that it was “perfect morning music.” “Unless this gives way to a wrenching punk scream— for all we know,” I smarmily replied.

We were both pleased when the equally ethereal piano joined in, followed by the delicate, upbeat percussion of their first single, “Pedro.” Then the synths. Those smooth synths, layered like a cake. The morning vibes only got better and better as the EP wore on.

“Breathe” progresses more slowly with atypical, soul-inflected beats, reminiscent of FKA twigs. “Ghost” is the simplest and poppiest track on the record, without losing any of the intricacy of the other songs. The EP closes with the stunningly rich title track, which demonstrates Lily The Kid’s ability to balance the chilliness of synths and drum machine beats with warm, human vocals and instrumental percussion to create an exquisite lushness.

When I learned the EP dropped several months ago, I had to ask myself what I’d been listening to all this time. While it may have been early in the morning, I was late in the game with Lily The Kid. If this happens to be your first exposure, be glad you have time to catch up before they drop a full album. Soon, please?

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LOOK: It’s Lily The Kid

Lilja K. Jónsdóttir is one half of the brother-sister duo Lily the Kid, who played their very first show last night at Airwaves. Lilja was previously a part of the electro-pop outfit Bloodgroup, and she says that she hopes people have a great time at her gig, as she’s missed being a part of Airwaves and is very excited to be playing again in a festival she loves.