Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.04.2017, Side 36
Music
While You Were
Waiting
Kiriyama Family are finding their groove
Words: Rex Beckett Photo: Art Bicnick
It can take anyone a little while
to figure out who they are. Kiri-
yama Family have had four years,
and some exits and entrances to
the band—and also to
their families—to start
getting a sense of what
kind of band they’re
meant to be. Four years
after the release of their
self-titled debut album,
they’re now ready to
unveil what they are
starting to become
with their sophomore
album ‘Waiting For…’
T he a lbu m i s a
groovy set of glisten-
ing pop songs smeared
in smooth retro synths.
Whereas their first album was
somewhat of a pastiche of genres,
their musical intention has be-
come much clearer. “On the first
one, we were musically all over
the place,” says Guðmundur Geir
Jónsson, synth player, guitarist
and bassist. “One song was like a
pure pop song, one song was a rock
song, and then an 80s pop song in
between. Now we’re more focused.
This one is a really groovy album.”
As with the subject matter,
the addition of new band mem-
bers has influenced their writing.
“Personally, I feel we’ve grown so
much. The sound ob-
viously changed a lot
with the female vocals
coming in,” says front-
man and multi-in-
strumentalist Karl M.
Bjarnason, referring to
the singer Hulda Katrín
Kolbrúnardóttir join-
ing the Kiriyama fold
alongside synth player
Bjarni Ævar Árnason.
“The lyrics have
c h a n g e d
b e c a u s e
I had a
kid so you start
t h i n k i ng ab out
other stuff. More
personal, maybe.
Not just about girl
problems. Well, re-
lationship problems.”
Hulda Katrín came to
the band after Kiriyama Family’s
drummer and recording engineer,
Bassi Ólafsson, heard her band
Aragrúi practicing at the Pakkhúsið
youth centre in Selfoss. “I was a huge
fan of the band. It was…” Hulda
Katrín trails off still seeming to reel
a bit from the memory. “He just sent
me a message on Facebook like: ‘Hey,
would you like to come to practice
with us?’ and I was like: ‘What the
fuck! Did he really?’ I was so nervous
at the first practice. I almost cried
afterwards. But, you know, I kept it
in. And the guys were cool.” Hulda
Katrín’s powerhouse pop vocals add
a markedly fresh direction to their
overall sound, giving a heavy dose
of 80s-era Heart to their amped-up
Hall & Oates-reminiscent tunes.
Still, they aren’t convinced that
they have quite hit the sound that
the five of them are working to-
wards. “I think the third album
is going to be what we really sound
like,” says Karl. “When we wrote this
one Hulda and Bjarni were there for
maybe half of it.” Hulda adds that
when she joined, many of the songs
were far enough along that she just
added backing vocals. “If we
can talk about the third
album hypothetical-
ly,” says Guðmun-
dur, “Hulda and
Bjarni will have
the opportunity
to be a lot more
involved. Every-
one’s going to have
input on that one.”
“Yes. But this one's
gonna be good,” says Karl,
making the family laugh.
SHARE: gpv.is/kir05
36The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05 — 2017
“The pow-
erhouse pop
vocals add a
heavy dose
of 80s-era
Heart to their
amped-up
Hall & Oates-
reminiscent
tunes.”
Kiriyama Family
looking back
Kiriyama Family
looking forward
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