Publisher’s Note: Music When The Lights Go Out

I had a conversation with an artist of my generation some years ago. We expected to be shocked by contemporary music, but instead we were just hearing shallow lyrics and seeing shameless commercialisation. No principles. No truth to power.

When shooting the cover of this issue, I recounted this to Benni Hemm Hemm. He pointed out the obvious. The shameless commercialisation is the shock factor.

There is this joke, that Iceland is the best place in the world to live in, but only when the world decides to set itself on fire and/or descend into darkness. These days that seems where we’re at in the world.

Benni and Páll Óskar, with their new album, are doing what I was yearning for in younger musicians during such times. Lyrics that talk to contemporary politics. They are artists with principles. Bringing light, when darkness descends. I hope the younger scene picks up on their example. Because this is a time for artists to speak up.