Grapevine New Music Picks: GDRN, Sóley, Sin Fang & Örvar Smárason And Mikael Máni

There’s no doubt about it now, winter is coming. If you’d spent the summer months basing your favourite new songs on what sun-seekers blared through speakers in the park, The Grapevine is here to take on that enormous responsibility. Here’s a collection of what has heads bobbing and toes tapping at our offices this week. If you want to hear them all on The Grapevine’s New Music Picks Spotify playlist, you’ll find it here.

GDRN – Næsta Líf

Iceland’s jazz-pop princess GDRN returns with an ethereal tune as refreshing as sipping spring water through a straw. It’s clear she’s back in her natural habitat and her pandemic-induced hiatus did nothing to stifle her signature sound–or her raw talent. Streaming this song changes the hue of your whole environment, at times feeling as if the melody is doing your breathing for you. DT

Sóley, Sin Fang & Örvar Smárason – Lake With No Name

This trio teams up again to deliver a soothing song propelled by a hopeful melody, perfect for fans of their 2018 ballad, ‘Wasted’. Luckily the warm English lyrics, while a touch heartbreaking, are easy to memorise for singing along the next time you’re really going through it. This song is like a good novella—a brief work that elicits emotion beyond the experience itself. DT

Mikael Máni – Two Sisters

Mikael Máni has recently released his second studio album, Nostalgia Machine. The artist himself describes the music as a blend of jazz, rock and impressionism. The album is an intriguing body of work full of sentiment. The track we’ve chosen as one of the picks, Two Sisters, is perfect for a slow and stressless Sunday morning. RH

As the Icelandic winter draws in we’re reaching for our comfy traditional lopapeysa sweaters, the beautiful woollen garments which have been keeping Icelanders warm for generations. They’re available for international delivery through our online shop, and ours are hand-knitted right here in Iceland from local wool.