Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.07.2016, Qupperneq 24

I arrive at Reykjavík’s small domestic
airport early on Midsummer’s Day,
for a morning flight to Ísafjörður. I’ve
been lucky enough to be invited to
join the composer and musician Óla-
fur Arnalds, and his crew, on a trip
to the Westfjörds. Our destination is
Holtskirkja, a remote church located
on the beautiful fjord of Önundar-
fjörður, where the group will record
the second part of Ólafur’s intriguing
new project.
At the airport, Ólafur mingles with
film director Baldvin Z and their crew.
There are far more people involved
in the project than I’d have imag-
ined. Along with Ólafur and Baldvin,
there are three string musicians, Ása
Guðjónsdóttir, Ásta Kristín Pjeturs-
dóttir and Sólveig Vaka Eyþórsdóttir; a
three-person camera crew; two sound
men; and the person tasked with keep-
ing everything under control: Ólafur’s
personal assistant, Sólveig Ásta Sig-
urðardóttir.
There’s tangible excitement in the
air as we take off for Ísafjörður. The
weather is beautiful, and as we soar
over Reykjavík, the crew exchanges
stories from many of their previous
projects together.
Seven is the magic
number
Ólafur Arnalds has been well-known
in Iceland’s music scene for many
years. His solo albums have garnered
much praise and attention, at home
and abroad, as have his collaborative
projects: ‘The Chopin Project’, which
he took on with Alice Sara Ott; his
electronic duo Kiasmos; and a recently
released improvised album with Nils
Frahm. He’s also reached many ears
with his film scores, including what’s
perhaps his biggest claim to fame: his
BAFTA-winning score for the ITV tele-
vision series ‘Broadchurch’.
Amongst this prolific output, Óla-
fur released the album ‘Living Room
Songs’ in 2011. This album was the
result of a project in which he created
one new song a day for a whole week,
recording and filming each one in his
living room, and streaming them on-
line the same day. Now, five years later,
Ólafur has launched ‘Island Songs’—a
more ambitious continuation of the
same idea. This time, Ólafur will trav-
el to seven places in Iceland in seven
weeks, each time recording a new
composition with a different collabo-
rator.
The first song in the series was “Ár-
bakkinn,” recorded with poet Einar
Georg Einarsson in Einar’s hometown
of Hvammstangi. The second phase of
the project, on which we’re embark-
ing, will involve Ólafur recording and
filming the song “1995” with his cous-
in Dagný Arnalds.
Arriving in the West

An hour later, the plane banks steeply,
swooping into the fjord to land on the
tiny airstrip at Ísafjörður. The blue
skies over Reykjavík are long gone—
it’s a cold and misty day in the West-
fjörds. We pack into cars, and head out
into the murk, passing through the
long single-lane tunnel to the village
of Flateyri.
We get a warm welcome from Dagný
Arnalds and the priest of Holtskirkja,
Reverend Fjölnir. I’m told that Dagný
is a busy musician herself, conducting
three different choirs, as well as being
a church organist at Holtskirkja and a
piano teacher in Flateyri. “When you
live in such a small community,” she
says, “everybody contributes and does
what they can.”
It’s a happy meeting. Dagný and
Ólafur reminisce about their child-
hood, and talk about his last visit. She
updates him with stories of her chil-
dren, and insists he must take home
some of the spinach her son gathered
for him.

“1995”

Holtskirkja is a beautiful little church,
set amongst the green grass and
vast mountains of Önundarfjörður’s
southern shore. Upon our arrival,
we’re delighted to discover that Dagný
and Reverend Fjölnir have already pre-
pared food and coffee. As the crew sets
up for filming, the string players tune
their instruments, creating a warm
and homely atmosphere.
As Dagný and the string players
start rehearsing the song, which none
of them have heard before, Ólafur tells
me that he tries to connect the songs to
the location in which he records them.
Thus, the song “1995” refers to an ava-
lanche that descended upon Flateyri
Stranded
In Flateyri
Ólafur Arnalds
and the making
of Island Songs
Words & photos Hrefna Björg Gylfadóttir
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