Grapevine Playlist: Jónsi, Glowie, Björk, East Of My Youth & More

From Bára Gísladóttir’s tectonic double bass wailing, to facially-active blues duo ROFOROFO, to Jónsi and Björk’s latest releases, here are some noteworthy tracks that have recently emerged the Icelandic scene. You can hear these songs and more by subscribing to our Spotify playlist here.

ROFOROFO – Rose
ROFOROFO were one of our picks for Iceland Airwaves 2017 with their atmospheric, bluesy sound. A highlight of their Iðnó show—alongside the accomplished musicianship and catchy tunes—was the duo’s wide range of bizarre onstage facial expressions, which are on full display in the video for their latest track, ‘Rose.’

Jónsi – Frakkur 4:01
Sigur rós frontman Jónsi will release ‘Frakkur’ this December, an LP of unreleased solo compositions. The first glimpse—entitled “Frakkur 4:01,” on YouTube—is promising; it’s a dreamy collage of sonic twinkles, amniotic melodies and Jónsi’s endearing, distinctively yowled vocals.

Bára Gísladóttir – Material Mass
On new LP ‘Mass For Some,’ composer and musician Bára Gísladóttir disposes pretty much entirely with traditional ideas of melody, instead creating brutal tableaus of dense orchestral noise via some fierce, physical contrabass mistreatment. Challenging, mesmerising stuff.

Björk – Arisen My Senses
Björk has taken issue in the past with the attention lavished on her love songs compared to tracks about, say, politics, or the cosmos, or earth sciences. The breathless first track of ‘Utopia’ perhaps shows why this is the case—put simply, because she writes love so well. It’s a lush and ravishing entrance to the new LP.

iLL BLU ft. Glowie – Tribalist (Get To Know)
We haven’t heard much from Glowie, aka Sara Pétursdóttir, since she signed with RCA/Columbia, but this collaboration with London duo iLL BLU landed straight on BBC Radio 1, and Spotify’s #NewMusicFriday playlist. Will it be a global hit, or just a drop in the mainstream? We look on with interest.

East Of My Youth – Go Home
‘Go Home’ is clean-cut electronic pop duo East Of My Youth’s best effort to date. It’s an unpretentious, straight-up pop song that arrives at a measured pace with appealingly crisp production, a soft sound palette, and an insistent, catchy chorus.

Read more about Icelandic music here.