Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.11.2007, Page 38
Despite having a capital city that sits a snowball’s
throw away from the North Pole and boasts a popu-
lation smaller than that of the London borough of
Barnet, Iceland has a growing musical and artistic
culture that would leave many far larger popula-
tions shivering in its shadow.
It’s therefore unsurprising that the country
has been famous for producing immense creative
talent such as The Sugarcubes – famously cham-
pioned by British DJ John Peel in 1987 and featur-
ing the multi-Grammy Award nominated Björk
–, the ubiquitous Sigur Rós and the increasingly-
renowned Múm, but relatively recent political and
social changes affecting the cultural make up of
this prosperous nation have been pivotal in pro-
pelling a new folk-inspired movement to the fore-
front of Iceland’s popular music scene. Not many
people outside of the country realise that Iceland
only gained independence in 1944, when Danish
rule was consigned to the history books in favour
of a constitutional republic system of government
- this relatively recent upheaval has left many striv-
ing to regain and cement a strong cultural identity,
something which often takes many decades to nur-
ture and develop. So, just as popular troubadours
like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joan Baez and Joni
Mitchell helped define American folk revivalist mu-
sic, leaving their ideals and classic compositions
imprinted on a restless generation of people who
were looking to the horizon, rather than over their
shoulders, a similar movement of tradition-inspired
folkists are guiding the Icelandic people into a new
dawn of international and localised recognition.
One of the most influential individuals in
this movement is singer-songwriter Pétur Ben - a
virtuoso guitar player (before going solo he played
guitar with Mugison, another successful Icelandic
folk rock artist) with a voice and song-writing tal-
ent to match. “I’m sure it has something to do with
being a relatively small group of people defining
itself as a nation. I wish we could be as indepen-
dent politically as we are artistically but that’s an-
other story,” Pétur explains, hinting at the political
undertones of the music that won him an album
of the year award at this year’s Icelandic Music
Awards. Pétur’s music is typical of the type current-
ly dominating the country’s charts, with lyrics and
musicianship that have an ethereal quality which
perfectly reflects the Icelandic landscape, flitting
from dark visions of isolation accompanied by
thumping acoustic guitar and grand soundscapes,
such as in Wine For My Weakness, the title track
of his award-winning album, to delicate strummed
paeans to love, sorrow and happiness such as You
Woke Me and Alone. He regularly plays alongside
The Sugarcubes drummer, Sigtryggur Baldursson,
and collaborated with members of Sigur Rós at the
aforementioned awards ceremony - although Ice-
land is a relatively small place this is still an impres-
sive endorsement of his talent and the movement
of which he’s a part.
Thankfully, Pétur Ben is far from alone in
propagating this new folk sound around his home-
land. Others, such as Lay Low, a 23-year-old blues-
driven female singer songwriter and Lára Runars,
another young Reykjavik-based acoustic artiste
who’s recorded tracks with Damian Rice at his stu-
dio in Ireland, are also taking the lead with endless
gigs in increasingly prominent venues around the
world and well-received recorded material. Lay
Low, in particular, has achieved widespread recog-
nition around her home country and America by
combining intricate, bluesy riffs with a sensational
voice that sounds like she lights up a dozen Russian
sailor cigarettes for breakfast and then washes the
smoke down with a litre of blossom honey. For her
sake I hope she doesn’t follow such a diet but deli-
cately simple tracks such as Mojo Love and Please
Don’t Hate Me are highly reminiscent of the raspy,
rootsy blues that inspired Dylan et al yet they have
an endearing, newer quality that’s quite different
from the purer, darker Americana sound. It’s nurs-
ery rhyme folk blues, but in the best possible sense,
and it earned her the best newcomer award at the
Icelandic Music Awards last year.
A Mixture of Old and New
Both Lay Low (real name Lovísa Elísabet Sig-
rúnardóttir), Lára Runars and others, such as My
Summer As A Salvation Soldier and Esja, two other
local folk bands, regularly pull in large, enthusiastic
crowds at Reykjavik venues such as NASA, Organ
and the annual Iceland Airwaves festival and have
attracted increasing praise and attention from the
Icelandic press for their fresh-sounding folk music
and widespread credibility. My Summer As A Sal-
vation Soldier is one of the most progressive folk
singers and, at the tender age of 21, he has already
won a best newcomer award at the Icelandic Music
Awards in 2004. This is even more extraordinary
when you find out that he is also in two hardcore
metal bands and an assortment of other groups,
none of which sound remotely like his gentle self-
penned songs which are reminiscent of Joe Cocker
or a slightly sedated Lou Reed. Such versatility is
common and it’s undoubtedly a reflection of both
the level of musical talent demonstrated by the
young artists and their refusal to play just one form
of music, thus leaving the door open for endless
cross-genre collaborations and side projects that
are often folk-orientated.
It would, however, be entirely wrong to sug-
gest that traditional music is a new concept in Ice-
land as, like in almost all cultures, generation after
generation have entertained each other with folk
songs and music passed from person to person.
Sigur Rós, whose members have regularly been
involved in folk-inspired side projects, recently re-
vived one such tradition by recording a limited-edi-
tion EP of Icelandic Rímur - a chanted form of po-
etry depicting ancient battles and epic tales from
Icelandic folklore - with a local fisherman and poet
called Steindór Andersen. The resulting recording
has a suitably religious quality with booming chant-
ing accompanied by a gentle ambient backing over
six narratives, each one a separate tale from an-
cient Iceland. One track was even recorded under
a bridge by a stream for a more traditional effect
but, given only a thousand copies of the EP exist,
sadly it’s doubtful many will get to hear old meeting
new in such a unique way.
Like Sigur Rós, Emiliana Torrini is one of
Iceland’s more established acts and her hugely
popular folk albums, such as the mesmerising
Fisherman’s Woman, have helped raise her profile
outside of her home country and connect the older
forms of the genre, such as that explored by Sigur
Rós’s rímur project, to the newer material being
performed by the likes of Pétur Ben, My Summer As
A Salvation Soldier and Lay Low. Emiliana Torrini
also has another claim to fame - she sang the end
song to Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers. You’ll
recognise her ice-pure whispered voice, described
as “a beautiful instrument” in a review at the time,
the moment you hear it (if you know the film) but
maybe this moment in her career consigned her to
the more old-fashioned school of Icelandic music.
Recently some of her work has been criticised for
being boring and, when compared with recent ma-
terial from the newer artists mentioned, her tales
about being a good fisherman’s wife seem a little
too twee and self-satisfied in concept to sit along-
side the more forward-looking work of others.
The Icelandic people’s strong, and constant-
ly renewing, sense of self, combined with a huge
pool of talented musicians filling venues and re-
cord shops around the country with fresh new folk
music, have made the country home to one of the
most forward-thinking folk scenes in the world.
The music is instantly accessible and friendly, just
like many of the people who penned the songs be-
ing played in coffee shops around Reykjavik and
beyond, and proves that this fascinating country
now offers a world of home-grown music beyond
that already known to the outside world. However,
as Pétur Ben confides, it’s not the easiest form of
music to unpick: “There is something very unique
about the Icelandic indie scene which many have
tried to understand.” Coming from someone who
should know, you’d have to agree with Pétur but,
whilst it might be a little tricky to get to the bot-
tom of this latest ripple in Iceland’s vibrant culture,
you’d have to have a heart of ice not to fall in love
with the new wave of folk coming from the border
of the Arctic Circle.
Text by Ben H. Murray
Folk and Frost
Lay Low, in particular, has
achieved widespread rec-
ognition around her home
country and America by
combining intricate, blue-
sy riffs with a sensational
voice that sounds like she
lights up a dozen Russian
sailor cigarettes for break-
fast and then washes the
smoke down with a litre of
blossom honey
Icelandic folk musicians have spawned international
admiration. Photo by Rúnar Sigurjónsson
22 | Reykjavík Grapevine | Issue 17 2007 | Article