Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.05.2017, Side 37

Music
Veteran Icelandic indie
rock band MAMMÚT
came out of hiberna-
tion this month with
the announcement
that their new album,
‘Kinder Versions’, will
come on July 13th via
Bella Union—the famed
UK indie label that’s
home to bands like
Fleet Foxes and Beach
House. In an interview
with The Line of Best
Fit, MAMMÚT said they
feel it’s their strongest album to date;
that “It completely took us over, and
we grew a lot inside it.” It’s their first
album to be sung in English, and this
month they begin a tour of Europe.
After that, they’ll play Roskilde Festival.
And after that? World domination,
maybe.

Björk has announced a songbook
entitled ‘34 Scores for Piano, Organ,
Harpsichord and Celeste’. It’s the first
ever sheet music to be published by
Björk, and was created in collaboration
with pianist Jónas Sen, design house
M/M (Paris) and engraving company
Notengrafik Berlin. It contains reimag-
ined versions of tracks from ‘Debut’,
‘Post’, ‘Homogenic’, ‘Selmasongs’, ‘Ves-
pertine’, ‘Medúlla’, ‘Drawing Restraint
9’, ‘Volta’ and ‘Vulnicura’. Björk will
perform songs from the book in Los
Angeles on May 30 at the Walt Disney
Hall, and the book is set for publication
in June 5, via Wise Publications—pre-
order a copy at indian.co.uk/shop.
Three Icelandic heavy hitters release
new albums on the same day: Friday
May 5. First up (alphabetically, be-
cause, you know, justice, or something)
is Ásgeir, whose new LP ‘Afterglow’ has
been three long years in the making.
It comes out via One Little Indian. Sec-
ondly, livewire pop duo Milkywhale will
unleash their debut self-titled album
on the world—on Spotify, at least. A
vinyl version is promised later in the
year, and you can read their track-by-
track guide on page 35. Finally, sóley
releases her third, and best, studio
album, entitled ‘Endless Summer’.
MUSIC
NEWS
Summer Of Sóley
On “Endless Summer”, sóley dreams
of warmer climes
Words: John Rogers Photo: Art Bicnick
Endless Summer
Released on May 5, with a release
party at MENGI on May 6
Sóley has just arrived back in Ice-
land from a whistlestop trip to
England. She played a one-off show
in Hull, to celebrate its status as
UK City of Culture 2017, ahead of an
upcoming European tour. “I was
in the UK for just 24 hours,” she
smiles, breathlessly. “I ended up
in an industrial rave with Curver
[Thoroddsen, of Ghostigital]. I
always think I’ll just go back to
the hotel after the show and go to
sleep, but it never happens.”
She performed solo, on a grand
piano, sandwiched between ex-
perimental electronica duo Ghos-
tigital and honorary Icelander John
Grant on the lineup. “I’d been re-
hearsing with the band, and so I’d
kind of forgotten to practice for
this one,” says sóley. “I was so ner-
vous. I thought, ‘I couldn’t be more
naked—I could literally be naked
onstage.’ It was really powerful.”
Her new album, ‘Endless Sum-
mer’, is similarly intimate. The
opening song, “Úa,” is named af-
ter her daughter, and the lyrics are
deeply personal in nature through-
out. But despite the record’s opti-
mistic title and its billing as her
“happy album,” the nature of the
music remains contemplative, and
sometimes even mournful.
“Well, I did my best!” she laughs.
“The title came before the album. It
was finding it hard to play ‘Ask the
Deep’—I wasn’t enjoying playing it
live any more. Then in January 2016
I woke up and thought: ‘I’m going
to make an album about spring,
and hope.’ I didn’t want to be stuck
in this depression pond forever.”
Major chords
‘Endless Summer’ feels like a de-
parture to sóley, who’s still in the
process of getting to know the al-
bum. “Every time I release some-
thing, I can listen to it for a month,
then I have to stop,” she says. “I’ll
start wishing I’d done little things
differently. But I’m still listen-
ing to this album in my car—my
daughter likes it, and knows all the
words.”
The album is sóley’s third, and
was produced over a period of one
year. During the recording, she re-
alised that she’d unwittingly type-
cast her own sound. “I was stuck
in a box,” she explains. “I’d been
thinking that I only made dark
music in minor keys, with funny
horror shit. I realised I could also
use major chords. The first song,
“Úa”, starts with a major chord—
that was a big step for me.”
Back to reality
This newfound freedom breathed
life into the writing process. “I
enjoyed making it so much,” só-
ley smiles. ”It was the first time
I’ve enjoyed making music for a
long while. I decided to do what-
ever I love, and put it all together
in an album. I realised that I can
go outside of that box. Sometimes
you feel stuck, but it’s so easy to
go out.”
Ironically, the songs on ‘Endless
Summer’ were written in some of
the darkest days of the Icelandic
year. “In January, endless summer
is what you want,” says sóley. “But
I wouldn’t want to live in Califor-
nia—I like the dynamic that Ice-
land has to offer. And I love the
craving, sitting in a café and talk-
ing to my friends about what we’ll
do when summer comes. Those
summer days are endless, in a way.
The day and night merge together,
for a really short time. And then,
it’s back to reality.”

LISTEN &SHARE: gpv.is/sol07
Sóley has her summer dress ready and everything!