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Introducing The 2026 Grapevine Music Awards Winners
Roll out the red carpet, please The Reykjavík Grapevine Music Awards are doled out each year in the beginning of February. Having covered the winners of Artist Of The Year and Song Of The Year (Alaska1867 and “eh plan” by digital ísland,…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Gyða Valtýsdóttir, Ólöf Arnalds, Andervel & More
With a new issue of the Grapevine this week, we celebrate the impactful selflessness of Iceland’s Search and Rescue teams — specifically honouring the memory of Sigurður Kristófer McQuillan Óskarsson, who died during a team training session. Gracing the music pages are…
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Track By Track: Act I By Bríet
Bríet’s Life Is A Movie After completely owning the Icelandic music scene since the release of her 2020 Esjan, Bríet — to the great surprise of her fans — turned towards writing music in English. Back and forth between Nashville, Tennessee, and Iceland,…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Bríet, Symfaux, Róshildur & More
After the Iceland Airwaves madness last weekend, some might think we’d take a break on covering music this week. Those nay-sayers wouldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, artists tend to use the festival as a publishing date, using the festival…
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Trúnó On The Dancefloor: Inside Benni Hemm Hemm And Páll Óskar’s New Album
Benni Hemm Hemm and Páll Óskar join forces for a politically charged, sugary pop album In a rare twist of fate, famed Icelandic musicians Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson and Benedikt Hermann Hermannsson marry their talents for their latest creation Alveg, out September 26.…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: KUSK & Óviti, Páll Óskar & Benni Hemm Hemm, & More
Every day, I check the forecast for the cooling signs of autumn. Still, the oracle manages to surprise me with double-digit temperature, leaving us all in a state of desperation for that crispy air. After a few months of not compiling the…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Ólafur Arnalds & Talos, Bríet, Moses Hightower & More
Even though it’s almost the middle of July, that doesn’t stop the Icelandic sniffles. Currently writing this with a sore throat (what is this, February?!), the summer has not delivered like May promised it would. Whatever, just dress for the wind, cold,…
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Track By Track: Drop P By GRÓA
Faster than lightspeed There are fewer bands active in Iceland truer to their craft and ethos than GRÓA. Whether it’s dropping a huge SXSW showcase opportunity in support of Palestine, or letting all tethers loose during their live performances, GRÓA’s energy is…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Of Monsters And Men, Hoym, Benjamín Gísli & More
It’s print day here at Grapevine HQ, with our recent cover feature exploring the wonderful intricacies of the Icelandic Ring Road. If you’re on the road yourself, why not treat yourself to a hand-crafted curation of Icelandic summer tracks — a callback…
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Grapevine New Music: Amor Vincit Omnia, Eydís Evensen, JóiPé & Króli, & More
In a world becoming increasingly unstable, there is but one, sturdy pillar lifting the spirits here at Grapevine HQ. That pillar is the prolificness and quality of new Iceland music coming out. When article deadlines burden us, and geopolitical tensions run high,…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: múm, GRÓA, Elín Hall & More
Our latest issue is now out on the streets of Reykjavík. In a cover feature illustrated by visual artist Baldur Helgason, writer Alma Mjöll Ólafsdóttir covers the increasing importance of alternative media such as podcasts and the parallel rise of the Brosphere.…
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Track By Track: The Water, The Lover By Néfur
Néfur collaborates with Icelandic glaciers on her latest release The Water, The Lover Have you ever wondered how co-writing an album with a glacier might be? Would they be more of a Lennon or McCartney type? Would they provide the music to…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Bríet, Virgin Orchestra, Creature Of Habit, & More
There’s a certain something to be said about summers in Iceland. You won’t hear me say it here — wait for our cover feature out June 6. The 24/7 sunlight, people manicly emptying the shelves of Ríkið… I’m getting ahead of myself here.…
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Track By Track: Á Floti By Gosi
Gosi’s latest album Á floti puts the ‘sea’ in ‘catchy’ On his latest album Á floti, Ísafjörður-based musician Andri Pétur Þrastarson shares his musical odyssey. Zooming in on the adventures of a sailor, the album explores a whole host of adversaries —…
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Grapevine New Music: GusGus, BSÍ, Farao & More
If this ain’t a heatwave, I don’t know what is. With so much quality music out this year — and it’s only May — it doesn’t matter whether the summer will be warm or cold. These tunes are primed to bring the heat into…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Gróa, Gugusar, Soffía & More
As Justin Timberlake sang in NSYNC’s chart-topping single, it’s gonna be May — and it is! Welcoming warmer weather, more sunlight, and a seasonal buzz in the capital, we at the Grapevine are preparing for our bi-weekly publication calendar. Starting May 9,…
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Grapevine New Music: Daði Freyr, Króli, Salóme Katrín & More
Holy smokes, summer’s here! We’ve reached the time where selfies taken from rooftop bars and balconies start to fill our collective social media feeds. Start preparing for burnt faces proliferating onto the Reykjavík sidewalks, occupying every single square metre of available sunlight,…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Laufey, Virgin Orchestra, Skrillex & Jónsi, & More
It looks like there’s a divide forming within the Reykjavík noise scene, as a festival rivalling Þórir Georg’s RVK Noise Fest announced their existence earlier this week. To be honest, we didn’t know the noise crowd was big enough to harbour any…
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Track By Track: Rykfall By Myrkvi
When The Dust Settles Starting his music career with the indie-pop band Vio, Magnús Thorlacius’ solo project debuted with the 2020 album Reflections. In late February, Myrkvi’s release Rykfall came out, reflecting the artist’s personal journey of self-realisation. Rooted in Vio’s songwriting…
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Spacestation Live Review: Nothing But Stomps And Chants
Tuning Into A Local Station Over the last couple of years, Spacestation transformed from a jingle-jangle unit with stylishly scruffy outfits to one of the coolest bands in town. Their debut album Reykjavík Syndrome, exploring the quintet’s uneasy relationship with their place…
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HAMPARAT Live Review: “A Yellow Weather Alert Experience”
On March 21, perennial rock band HAM teamed up with the synthesiser-based group Apparat Organ Quartet for a once-in-a-lifetime performance dubbed HAMPARAT. This is what it felt like. A female voice semi-whispers through the layers of white noise sounds as if it…
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Video Premiere: Jelena Ciric Releases “Love Song”
Jelena Ciric has been a definitive namestay in Reykjavík’s folk scene for years. In February, she released her first follow-up to her critically-acclaimed EP Shelters Two, the wonderfully crafted “Love Song”. Today, she releases the accompanying music video. Jelena’s song and accompanying…
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Grapevine New Music Picks: Ólafur Arnalds & Loreen, Spacestation, Árný Margrét & More
AHHHH. That’s the sound of us welcoming these signposts of the oncoming spring. Have you noticed that it’s actually daylight when you wake up; the tweeting birdsong, and the hubbub of people out and about? It’s March baby, so put on your…