Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.04.2014, Blaðsíða 25

Adda
Atónal Blús
My Brain EP
2014
www.facebook.com/adda.ingolfs
What folk is all about
Höfuðsynd
2014
www.facebook.com/AtonalBlus
Rock infused with some
interesting ideas.
‘My Brain,’ the crowdsourced
debut EP from singer/
songwriter Adda (AKA
Arnþrúður Ingólfsdóttir), is a wonderfully
austere, haunting body of folk songs.
Playing fingerpicked acoustic guitar,
Adda sings a lot about her turbulent mind
(referring to her brain as a third person
entity), as if she were in a passionate
relationship with a partner. With all the
highs and lows it entails, the intensity
and emotional gravity of such feelings
reverberate in Adda’s voice (with
accompaniment from her sister Sunna).
The rising, sustained two-note harmonies
on “Taking Off,” for example, set your arm
hairs on edge.
Adda has in the past referred to
Joni Mitchell as a big influence and
Jewel songs such as “Pieces Of You”
and “Little Sister” could sit perfectly well
alongside this EP. But while those artists
have a shiny Americana gloss to them,
‘My Brain’ has a much stronger, rustic
folk dynamic, as if it’s been opened up
to the changeable elements of Northern
European climes. “Waking Up,” with the
reedy flute accompaniment of Georgia
Browne, is a dew-laden, pastoral sunrise
of a song while “I Will Not Forget,” a
survivor’s letter of thanks to family and
friends, is definitely the best track on the
EP. The undulating meter of the guitar
accompanied by waves of long drawn
cello drones that drift in and out of focus
have a mesmeric spectral quality, all
windswept cliffs and remote peninsulas.
If there’s one duff moment in ‘My Brain,’
then it’s “Queer Sweetheart” with its
finger-clicking jazz-blues melody, which
alas does not do anything for me. But
even here, decidedly acidic witty lines
such as “You might even catch me with a
queer porn flick/But don’t tell my country
about it though/Cos there I’m a radical
feminist oh-oh/And they don’t watch any
kind of porn,” made me spit my morning
tea out, going “Damn! You went there!”
‘My Brain’ is an accomplished
debut EP that’s highly intimate, even
confessional, but never comes across
as self-obsessed. There is a quiet
determination that resides at the centre
of the music. The production also shows
that when it comes to creating an impact
with her song writing, she definitely gets
what folk is all about.
It should be noted that when
you first play ‘Höfuðsynd,’
the debut album from new
band Atónal Blús, you quickly realise
that despite the cool name, that they’re
not really Arnold Schoenberg does John
Lee Hooker. But that’s not to dispute that
there’s some avant-garde tinkering at play
here. The opening track, “Atónal Blús,” is
a murky, buzzing, discoloured breakdown
of a song that comes closest to the atonal
aesthetic implied of the band’s name.
From there it settles down into a
spot-welded blend of heaving psych-
inflected rock and interesting rhythmic
patterns that could be seen as a little bit
(whisper it) “proggy.” The rhythm workings
shouldn’t come as a surprise. The band’s
main instigator, Gestur Guðnason, was
a member of Icelandic Balkan beats
band Stórsveit Nix Noltes, and a track
like “Balkan Boogie” is pretty much a
fuzzed up variation on the SNN template,
although it’s definitely more subtly
employed on tracks such as “Oxygen
Kills.” The rock components themselves
are manfully done although fairly standard
in their structure and occasionally border
on cliché (freight train sounds made with
the harmonica and acoustic jams with
bongos).
All in all, ‘Höfuðsynd’ is a rather
enjoyable listen. The drums/bass
partnership have been brought right to
the front of the mix, giving what could
have been an average rock song like
“Sexy Slave” some overloading, thumping
menace (Jesus, those floor toms!). There
are also several moments, such as when
the vocals, harmonica and lead guitar
combine on “Lítið ljón,” where there’s a
looseness that borders on the unstable,
giving it a definite edge in comparison
to the stiff, crushing orthodoxy of much
of Iceland’s lauded “real rock” music.
Definitely worth a spin for rock heads
looking for a little more danger in their
music.
Words
Bob Cluness
Words
Bob Cluness
Album Reviews
25 Music
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