Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.09.2014, Side 26

26 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 14 — 2014MUSIC
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With several albums under
her belt, two No. 1 singles on
the Icelandic music charts,
and world touring with Gusgus as a teen,
Hafdís Huld has a lot of previous musical
experience to draw upon. She’s nearing
her mid-thirties now, but has that certain
Icelandic agelessness about her. Hafdís’s
solo album ‘Home’ is a simple collection of
original folk songs and lullaby-like tunes
arranged and orchestrated by the singer’s
partner, Alisdair Wright. The warmer, more
densely arranged tracks on the album are
the most effective and, with a reverber-
ant piano, guitars and percussion, all very
radio-friendly. A ukelele even makes an
appearance. Standout tracks on ‘Home’
include “Wolves” and “Sunrise,” which
vary between a Jewel Kilcher-like country
lilt and a Norah Jones jazz. Hafdís’s mel-
low alto voice recalls the aforementioned
Jewel but without any yodeling quirks.
The album is fine, but that’s about
where it ends. Though the lullabies might
get you swaying back and forth, there are
very few faster-tempo tracks for variety.
The songs have memorable choruses,
but there isn’t anything challenging or un-
usual in instrumentation, orchestration, or
melodic writing. Hafdís could bring more
emotional content to the album with ex-
panded vocal writing, but her voice instead
stays within a very limited range and tone.
Similarly, percussion often adds variety to
‘Home’s’ songs, but the textures enter all
too infrequently. The album ends with “I
Miss the Rain,” a cute track with ukelele,
but closing with a bizarre coda that re-
peats, “Wash my sins away.” One can’t
really believe Hafdís has really sinned all
that much.
‘Home’ is an album you can give to
your grandma, knowing that you’ve bought
an Icelandic CD as a safe yet thoughtful
souvenir. Or, put it on at night when you’re
having trouble sleeping; this album will
give you sweet dreams.
- NATHAN HALL
I found myself six tracks into
Hugar’s self-titled instrumental
debut before realizing that the
first song had ended. This could mean
one of two things: either the lack of lyri-
cal stimulation reaching my brain sent me
into an inert mental state, or the neo-
classical duo, consisting of producer-in-
strumentalists Bergur Þórisson and Pétur
Jónsson, has achieved the type of cohe-
sion that we are so rarely afforded in to-
day’s single-obsessed musical dominion.
I choose the former.
The band’s website explains that after
“many years in all kinds of different bands,”
the two of them started putting together
demos in 2012 that eventually became the
eleven ambient compositions on the de-
but. The album’s robust arrangements are
composed mainly of strings, guitar, horns
(Bergur is a credited trombonist on Gus-
gus’s 2014 release ‘Mexico’), and sparse
percussion, blossoming into the climactic
final track, “Endalok.”
‘Hugar’ is a purposeful album for a
particular audience. Though the record
held my attention throughout its duration,
I found myself yearning for more moments
of tension and release. Yes you will cook
to it, yes you will eat to it, and maybe you’ll
even bathe to it. But will you dance to it?
Will you drive to it? Maybe not. And may-
be it doesn’t matter. This is an album for a
specific time and place.
- HOLDEN JAFFE
Japanese Super Shift’s ‘47’ is
an unexpectedly emotional al-
bum. The record, which marks
the newest creation from producer-in-
strumentalist Stefnir Gunnarsson, offers
a healthy mix of dance-y instrumentals
and mature, lyrical songs, representing a
multifaceted album that feels as though
it could fuel an entire evening, from the
first drink to the sombre walkhome. The
lyrics are thoughtful and well-crafted,
and a comforting break from what we
have been trained to expect from con-
temporary electronic music.
Stefnir’s production chops begin to
warm up four tracks into the album with
“Voxotronic,” a nearly four-minute epic
of drum-and-bass-heavy lurching, remi-
niscent of something a far more confi-
dent, far less heartbroken James Mur-
phy would be capable of constructing.
The tightly sequenced beats and
cloudy lead vocals evoke my only real
reservations regarding ‘47’, and leave
me wishing that Stefnir would have loos-
ened the grid and chosen to share his
lyrics with the same ardor with which he
presents his compositions.
- HOLDEN JAFFE
Album
Reviews
Hafdís Huld - Home
HUGAR – ‘Hugar’
Japanese Super Shift – ‘47’
2014
www.hafdishuld.com
Easy listening that plays it
too safe
2014
www.hugar.is
A cohesive first try at ambitious
musical arrangement
2014
japanesesupershift1.bandcamp.com
An impressive display of
production chops and well-
thought-out lyrics