Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.05.2017, Side 36

‘Milkywhale’
by Milkywhale
Words: Milkywhale Photo: Art Bicnick
Milk y wh al e are
a pop duo who’ve
taken Iceland by
storm since first
appearing on our radar in 2015. Now
they’re preparing to release their
debut album into the oceans. Singer
Melkorka talks us through it.
1. Milkywhale
Originally Milkywhale was my
alter ego—a lonely whale that
struggles to survive, and does so
through music and singing. Later
we found out that scientists have
actually discovered the loneliest
whale in the world. She sings at
different frequencies than other
whales, so nobody can hear her.
This first song is dedicated to this
female whale. We imagine her be-
ing white.
2. Birds of Paradise
This song is an ode to
David Attenborough's
birds of paradise docu-
mentary (check it out
on YouTube!). It ’s a
mating dance, and we
wanted the lyrics to
be simple but sincere
at the same time. Ev-
erybody is out there
looking for the right
person, doing whatever
it takes, even though it
means making a little
fool of yourself.
3. Motionless
Know that feeling when
you meet someone,
time stands still and
you never want that
moment to end? It’s
time to explore your
depths while the world
rests.

4. Animal Kingdom
"I wanna be main-
stream, not a gulfstream" are lyr-
ics that somehow zoom this album
together for me. It’s the sincere
voice of Milkywhale—her mani-
festo.
5. Revelation
That’s what we made out of the arc-
tic darkness and the freezing cold;
one of Milkywhale's favourite live
dancing songs! It is also one of our
most recent ones.
6. Immaterial
Well… on the one hand there is the
materiality of a whale and on the
other hand there is immateriality.
There is emotion and there is logic.
This is the dialectical struggle of
Milkywhale.
7. Rhubarb Girl
The lyrics are actually inspired by
my mother's first novel, ‘The Rhu-
barb Girl’. It’s about the meeting of
a body and nature in a rhubarb for-
est. The text is really poetic. This
is probably our most upbeat song.
8. Invisible
Many of the songs on this record
are based on the feeling of loneli-
ness and being different, and in
this love song it’s the coming to-
gether of two senses—seeing and
touching.
9. Goodbye
“Goodbye” was originally sup-
posed to be a power ballad but
when we started working on it
took a different turn and in the
end, a massive instru-
mental part hits you.
The results are a song
where you can release
your frustration, show
off your dance skills or
just go crazy while do-
ing your dishwashing.
10. Eclipse
Before me and Árni
s t a r t e d w o r k i n g
on Mi l k y wha le we
worked together on a
play in the Reykjavik
City Theatre. The play
took place in a church,
and we got inspired
by church choirs. For
this song we knew we
wanted it to be sol-
emn and we had the
desire to incorporate
a choir into it. The cho-
rus feels almost like a
mantra: "Longing for
a meaningful world,
where you mean some-
thing to me, long-
ing for a meaningful
world, where you mean something
to me…”

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35The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07 — 2017
ALL DAY
©
2
0
17
D
D
I
P
H
o
ld
e
r
L
L
C
.
Dunkin
Laugavegur 3
Kringlan
Hagasmári 9
Leifstöð
Fitjar
ALL BAGELS 599ISK. EVERY DAY
“Well… on
the one hand
there is the
materiality
of a whale
and on the
other hand
there is im-
materiality.
There is
emotion and
there is logic.
This is the
dialecti-
cal struggle
of Milky-
whale.”
TRACK BY
TRACK
Music
WAR
IS
OVER!
IF YOU WANT IT
Happy Christmas from John & Yoko
(and The Laundromat Cafe)
All
needislove
you
!