Smjörvi Is Young, Wild, Free

Smjörvi’s latest EP #ung og eirðarlaus feels like the intersection of cyberculture and hyperpop

Gaining ground in 2017 with the outrageous and eccentric track “Engar myndir”, Smjörvi — whose real name is Tjörvi Gissurarson — shies away from the hip-hop limelight, opting for introspection.

“I’m a bit afraid of putting myself out there, but I’m always becoming better,” Tjörvi starts, as he takes a break from his current video project with artist Countess Malaise.

“I’ve been working on not being shy,” he continues, evidently hesitant in his speech. For the artist, who was 17 years old when the breakthrough “Engar myndir” was released, the song’s popularity provided necessary reflection.

“I was happy with the reception. But then it occurred to me that I was just doing something, if that makes sense. I wasn’t really me. So these days, I’m constantly becoming more and more personal. But still, I’m a bit weird. I’ve always been making weird music,” he confesses.

Smjörvi’s latest EP #ung og eirðarlaus is undoubtedly weird. On the periphery of hyperpop, hip-hop and house music, the six-track release feels like the intersection of internet culture and post-pop. Eccentric sounds are strewn across chaotic vocal chops and nonchalant lyrical deliveries, fortified by an accessible pop framework.

“I made it just before the summer, so I was thinking about these summer-y feelings,” Tjörvi says, describing the album’s inception. “It’s maybe a bit adolescent, which I relate to. This feeling of being young and restless. There’s this nostalgia in it, a type of summer, a desire to do something with your life, but not knowing how to do it,” he says while staring in the distance. “I just finished it in like three days and just put it out. Because I wanted it to be spontaneous. It’s important as an artist to release stuff fast.”

Dead producers’ society

Starting his music journey at 11, “making beats in FL Studio”, Smjörvi began a long collaboration effort with fellow musician HRNNR until focusing on releasing music solo. But recently, Smjörvi has found artistic kinship among fellow EDM colleagues miostora and davidfr.

“You’re not supposed to know what you’re doing. You’re supposed to just do something.”

“I’ve experienced considerable development because I’ve found friends to make music with,” he comments. “For many years, I was mostly doing things on my own. But now, there’s just a lot that happens when you’re in a group and are constantly creating as a group.”

Additionally, he’s collaborated with chillwave and cloud rap artist GKR, with Tjörvi’s adoration of the latter growing into a close friendship between the two. The pair’s collaboration culminated in the 2025 single “HIT”, where Tjörvi sings, “Made this beat on top of a bubble butt […] export the beat while I spank her.” Despite the overt objectification of women presented in the track, Tjörvi doesn’t seem to think too deeply about it. “We were feeling this boyish giddiness. I don’t know. I have never played it live, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever do it,” he says.

“I thought it was good to just release it and not overthink it. Maybe it’s worth it, maybe not. You won’t know it until you do,” he states.

Death of Smjörvi — birth of tjörvi

Influenced by a variety of electronic music genres, Tjörvi lists PC Music and dubstep as his main inspirations. “I remember listening a lot to an album by Apparat Organ Quartet. I was always trying to emulate dubstep when I was younger,” Tjörvi admits. “So I think [my music] evolved from that, and from being a sound pervert — being interested in different types of sounds. And then I enjoy taking that and making it more raw, which I feel like this album is.”

While #ung og eirðarlaus is only Smjörvi’s second album, Tjörvi views it as the last of his buttery canon. Only five days after putting out the EP, Tjörvi released another track under a new moniker. Now going by the stylised tjörvi, the manifold artist put out the English-language “oroboros”.

“I was thinking of [#ung og eirðarlaus] as the last release I put out in Icelandic,” he claims, explaining that he’s mostly focusing on English lyrics these days in order to reach a more international audience.

“I’m not sure about the difference [between the two]. I feel like tjörvi is more me. There’s something about creating a new project, it’s so emancipating,” he stresses. Still, in the same breath, Tjörvi expresses his doubts about killing his established Smjörvi persona. “I’m still figuring it out.”

Following a week bookended by two distinct releases, Tjörvi’s parting words encapsulate the artist’s life philosophy. “It’s best to do stuff and then realise afterwards why you did it when you can identify the context. You’re not supposed to know what you’re doing. You’re supposed to just do something. So, my philosophy is: do first, think later.”