Music News: Björk Songbook, New MAMMÚT Album, Ásgeir & More

Veteran Icelandic indie rock band MAMMÚT came out of hibernation this month with announcement that their new album, ‘Kinder Versions’, will come on July 13th via Bella Union—the famed UK indie label that’s home to bands like Fleet Foxes and Beach House.

In an interview with The Line of Best Fit, MAMMÚT said they feel it’s their strongest album to date; that “It completely took us over, and we grew a lot inside it.” It’s their first album to be sung in English, and this month they begin a tour of Europe. After that, they’ll play Roskilde Festival. And after that? World domination, maybe.

Björk has announced a songbook entitled ’34 Scores for Piano, Organ, Harpsichord and Celeste’. It’s the first ever sheet music to be published by Björk, and was created in collaboration with pianist Jónas Sen, design house M/M (Paris) and engraving company Notengrafik Berlin. It contains reimagined versions of tracks from ‘Debut’, ‘Post’, ‘Homogenic’, ‘Selmasongs’, ‘Vespertine’, ‘Medúlla’, ‘Drawing Restraint 9’, ‘Volta’ and ‘Vulnicura’.

Björk will perform songs from the book in Los Angeles on May 30 at the Walt Disney Hall, and the book is set for publication in June 5, via Wise Publications—pre-order a copy at indian.co.uk/shop. Read our most recent interview with Björk here.

Three Icelandic heavy-hitters release new albums on the same day: Friday May 5. First up (alphabetically, because, you know, justice, or something) is Ásgeir, whose new LP ‘Afterglow’ has been three long years in the making. It comes out via One Little Indian.

Secondly, livewire pop duo Milkywhale will unleash their debut self-titled album on the world—on Spotify, at least. A vinyl version is promised later in the year, and you can read their track-by-track guide here. Finally, sóley releases her third (and perhaps best) studio album, entitled ‘Endless Summer’. Read our interview with sóley about the album here.