Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.03.2018, Side 35

Into The Groove
And Back
Iconic electro-pop band SYKUR are releasing a
new LP and warming up for Sónar Reykjavík

Words: Alice Demurtas Photo: Timothée Lambrecq
Live at Sonar Reykjavík
SonarHall on Saturday 17th at 21:30
Some people—the ones that have
had a real impact on your life—never
really leave you. It’s true of long gone
grandparents, it’s true of first loves,
and it’s true of SYKUR.
The exuberant elec-
tro-pop band that gave
us iconic dancefloor hits
like “Viltu Dick”, “Messy
Hair” and “Reykjavík”
never truly left. They’ve been busy
since their last LP came out in 2011
with solo projects and writing new
material, some of which made it
onto the stage at their periodic live
performances. Nevertheless, the
release of their new single “Loving
None” almost felt like they were
staging a comeback.
Like a huge dam
“We’ve always been active in the past
seven years,” band member Kristján
Eldjárn explains. “We’ve been writ-
ing a lot of new stuff that we hadn’t
gotten around to recording yet, and
now that it’s finally happening, it’s
just such a relief. It feels like there
is this huge dam, and all of these
songs have been piling up behind
it, and now they’re finally bursting
through.”
Finally releasing “Loving None”
felt like a necessary step, after years
spent working on new
material in private.
“Yes, the sooner we can
release the new stuff,
the better,” says Agnes
Andradóttir, the band’s
firebrand frontwoman. “If we keep
pushing but never release anything,
it would just get harder and harder
with time.”
Purely SYKUR
Though the journey has been long,
SYKUR have performed new tracks
along the way, getting feedback and
sanding off the raw edges. “We’ve
been playing the material that’s go-
ing into the new LP for a long time
now,” says Kristján. “Our previous
albums were written in the studio as
we went, but the stuff that we’re re-
leasing now is going to be more pol-
ished. It’s gone through more feed-
back cycles. So we kind of figured
out what works and what doesn’t in
a live setting, before actually going
into the studio.”
It’s no wonder their newest track
“Loving None” has a more mature
feeling to it, whilst still surfing the
crazy electro-dance vibe Sykur are
known for. Agnes Björt’s singular,
sensually raucous vocals power
through digital percussions and
captivating melodies in a song that
feels familiar but fresh at the same
time. It’s a pure SYKUR-rush.
Lose yourself to dance
“Loving None” is bound to be a hit in
the sea of new material that SYKUR
will be performing during electron-
ic music festival Sónar Reykjavík.
While their music is always a kick
of pure energy, their power is best
conveyed to the audience in a live
setting, where Agnes’ incandescent
energy fires up the crowd. “When
you’re performing you get into this
kind of groove and you can’t not lose
yourself,” she explains.
“We get excited because the audi-
ence is having so much fun, and the
audience is having so much fun be-
cause we’re getting excited,” Kristján
laughs. “We amp each other up in a
feedback cycle that ultimately ends
in some craziness. I just love it.”
“And I always want it to be first
and foremost about togeth-
erness, exploration, sharing,
friendship, personalities, souls, and
spirits.”
gpv.is/music
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Sugar rush: SYKUR come back
“It feels like
there is this
huge dam”
35The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04 — 2018
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