Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.11.2018, Síða 31

Music 31The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 19— 2018
Bistro boy waiting for the bus journey to begin
“It’s dark and misty,
but there are bright
elements of a melody
trying to break out.”
ARTIST PLAYLIST
Bistro Boy -
‘Píanó í Þokunni’
Simple soundscapes in the fog
Words: Maria-Carmela Raso
Photos: Timothée Lambrecq

LP
‘Píanó í þokunni’ is out now
‘Píanó í þokunni’ (‘Piano in the Fog’)
is Bistro Boy’s third LP. The album
is a dreamy tribute to Bistro Boy’s
long-lasting relationship with his
piano; a musical journey from past
to present. “On this album I set out
with a different approach from pre-
vious albums,” says the musician. “I
was trying to keep the soundscape
somewhat simple and throw in
recordings of my old and out of
tune piano.”.

Þokan
I’m trying to set the tone here—it’s
dark and misty, but there are bright
elements of a melody trying to
break out. The soundscape is based
on a sample of an old song I made a
long time ago while playing my out-
of-tune piano on top of it. I always
have visual elements in mind when
I’m making music, and for this song
it was a remote foggy fjord.
Ljósbrot
This is a song about hope—how light
shines through the darkest clouds.
The song opens with me plucking
the strings of the piano, evolving
with pads and arpeggiators. But
at the core, the strings keep it to-
gether. I had the pleasure of having
my niece, Eir Ólafsdóttir, play cello on
this track, adding an organic touch
to the synthetic sounds.
Góða Nótt
The name of this song means “good
night.” It’s a simple lullaby: a song
about falling asleep on a late sum-
mer night, when there is absolute
stillness outside.

Sólsetur
This song came to me out of the
blue. I was fooling around with some
sounds and samples and this ele-
ment opening the song spoke to me;
the arpeggiated melody just hap-
pened and it all came together.

Mosi
I wanted to keep certain softness
to the album’s soundscape and this
is one example of how that went. I
used soft synths, a simple melody,
restricted drums and soft “subby”
bass to give it a soft touch, just like
a laying on a thick green moss after
a rainy day.

Heimferð
Like most of the songs on this
album, this one can be interpreted
very literally. It’s a song about com-
ing home and missing someone
or something. Like when you’ve
been away for a long time and you
just want to go home. Or when you
haven’t seen someone you love for a
while and it’s driving you crazy.
Fjall
Mountain is a song about a journey,
like when you’re driving and the
world outside is flying past your win-
dow. It’s the only song where you’ll
hear some vocal elements, which
are some samples of my own voice.
Nýr dagur
This song, or some elements of it,
was originally part of a live set at
Húrra from earlier this year. I wasn’t
sure what to do with it, but I didn’t
give up on it and this is the result.
It’s not obvious, but the opening
arpeggiator is my piano sampled
on my iPad, edited and played back
manually. A refreshing tune that
makes you dance.
Píanó í þokunni
The closing song is an epilogue: the
closing frame. The fog comes crawl-
ing in again, consuming the daylight
we’ve enjoyed and adding stillness
to everything. It’s time to lay down
and get some sleep.
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