Happening This Weekend: Our Picks!

The last week of February might be windy as hell, but it need not be bleak as hell too. Lighten up your mood and spice up your life with these not-to-miss weekend events.

Friday, February 22nd

sóley

21:00, Mengi, 2,500 ISK

sóley is known for her dark, meditative chamber folk. Her last album, ‘Endless Summer’, is intimate. The opening song, “Úa,” is named after her daughter, and the lyrics are deeply personal in nature throughout. But despite the record’s optimistic title and its billing as her “happy album,” the nature of the music remains contemplative, and sometimes even mournful. Give it—or her collaboration with Sin Fang and Örvar Smárason called Teen Dreams—a spin, and if it’s your cup of tea, you know where to find her. Tonight, she’ll be experimenting with new sounds for her upcoming album, which features accordion drone, theremin, voices, mellotron and synthesisers, and explores—fitting for 2019—the end of the world.

Saturday, February 23rd

Great Grief Album Release Party

20:30, Húrra, 1,500 ISK

Great Grief has been playing worldwide for five years, so calling their newly released debut album, ‘Love, Lust, and Greed,’ long-awaited would be an understatement. One of the best hardcore acts in the country, they will serve up some head-banging, moshing, and potentially frontman Finnbogi Örn’s characteristic move where he bashes his head into a microphone until he bleeds. It’s something. The band also promises some surprise guests, including Elli Grill, DJ Dóra Júlía and Grit Teeth. You can read Finnbogi’s Track by Track of the new album here, and if you’re diggin’ it, don’t miss this show.

Sunday, February 24th

Anna Guðjónsdóttir: Pars Pro Toto

Until May 19th, 10:00-17:00, Artist Talk at 15:00

Here, Anna Guðjónsdóttir questions the boundary between the original and the copy. Two-dimensional painted surfaces and three-dimensional real spaces collide. The gallery becomes a vitrine of sorts, surrounded by paintings reflecting the space itself as well as opening up other unforeseen dimensions. That sounds intellectual af right?  Reykjavík Art Musuem – Hafnarhús is open from 10:00-17:00 on Sundays, but if you can’t catch the exhibition today, the museum is open Friday to Wednesday from 10:00 – 17:00 and Thursdays from 10:00 to 22:00. As a bonus, at 15:00 on Sunday, they’ll be an artist talk by Anna itself. Note: It’ll be in Icelandic.