Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.04.2019, Blaðsíða 36

Music

Iceland Airwaves has an-
nounced the latest batch of
names for the 2019 lineup.
Icelandic acts include folk-pop musi-
cian Ólöf Arnalds, ever-popular song-
stress JFDR, and the welcome return
of Sin Fang’s seven-piece folk band
Seabear. They’ll be joined by some
international names such as Girl in Red,
Pottery, Pip Blom and Penelope Isles.
Those living outside of Iceland also
don’t need to feel left out, as the event
sponsor Icelandair offers packages
with flights and festival tickets. You
won’t want to miss out on what is shap-
ing up to be the hottest music event of
2019. Tickets are on sale now. SD

Sónar Reykjavík 2019 has been
cancelled. The organisers released a
statement encouraging ticket holders
to seek a refund, and to look into their
passenger rights at WOW Air. A state-
ment from the organisers read, in part,
“Last Thursday, Icelandic airline WOW
Air abruptly ceased operations. As a
result, the travel plans of up to half of
all the Sónar Reykjavík ticket-holders
and numerous artists have been
severely affected or cancelled. In light
of this, and given the short amount of
time until the festival, we are faced
with no other choice but to announce
its cancellation for this year.” We hope
to see the festival return in 2020. AF
There’s been a lot going on in the
Sigur Rós camp lately. The band hit the
headlines when they were accused of
tax fraud, and made an appearance
in a Reykjavík court to hear and deny
the charges. The case is ongoing. In
other news, their breakthrough album
‘Ágætis Byrjun’ is turning 20, and the
band will reissue it for the occasion
with a 7-disc vinyl box set featuring
demos, rarities, live recordings, and
a hardback book of imagery, art-
work ideas, sheet music, and other
curiosities. It’s available on order on
their website and comes out on June
21st. JR
MUSIC
NEWS
Event Horizon
The brothers of Andy Svarthol complete
their musical education
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Art Bicnick
Album
Listen to ‘Mörur’ on Spotify now.
Take the legendary artist Andy War-
hol, change three letters in the last
name so it becomes a play on the Ice-
landic word for black hole, and you
have the unconventional duo Andy
Svarthol. Comprising brothers Egill
and Bjarki Hreinn Viðarsson, the
band have spent the last three years
chipping away at their debut album,
‘Mörur,’ which came out in the be-
ginning of April.
A psychedelic soft-rock work,
‘Mörur’ is reminiscent of '60s
bands like The Zombies and The
Beach Boys. Add to that complicated
harmonies and unexpected chord
progressions, and you could easily
assume you’re listening to jazz vet-
erans or, at the very least, studied
composers.
Learning the ropes
But you aren’t. Actually, neither
brother has any formal music train-
ing. In fact, while most musicians
learn how to play before starting a
band, both Egill and
Bjarki did the op-
posite, more or less
learning to play and
record through Andy
Svarthol.
While Egill was
p r e v i o u s l y i n a
band, he found his
musical education
really kicked into
gear when he started working on
the album with his brother. From
learning to play his instruments
to learning how to sing and record
music, the album process has been
about “learning the ropes.”
Bjarki, the younger sibling, also
came into the band with absolutely
no musical experience. He essen-
tially picked up an instrument af-
ter joining Andy Svarthol, and even
jokes that the most difficult part of
making ‘Mörur’ was just learning
how to play the guitar. “It’s been a
learning process,” he says. “This
release is kind of a graduation for
the both of us.”
The first gig
But—even with their inexperi-
ence—the boys have sounded like
anything but amateurs since their
inception. In 2016, the two released
their first single “Irena Sírena,” and
soon after played their first gig at
that year’s KexPort. Not only was the
widely attended, live-streamed con-
cert Andy Svarthol’s debut, it was
also Bjarki’s first performance ever.
“We went straight into the deep
end of the pool,” he says, laughing.
Egill smiles. “I’m really proud of
Bjarki. My first gig was terrifying
too, and that was just a rock concert
at a café,” he says. “Now for him,
having this be his first gig...” He
gives a panicked expression.
Nightmares
The album title refers to creatures
found in old Norse folklore called
Mare, who would sit on unsuspect-
ing people’s chests while they slept,
causing them nightmares. While
Egill didn’t initially want to give
the album a title, he found the con-
cept of Mares tied into the theme
of the work. “Egill’s
lyrics are often about
things he’s afraid of,”
says Bjarki.
But the sound
of the album is an-
ything but fearful.
Egill is particularly
fond of the first and
last songs. “They are
funny,” he says. “Not
in the lyrics—just in the sounds.
It’s kind of ridiculous. I like how it
evolves.”
After spending three years work-
ing on the same songs, both are
anxious to work on new material,
especially now that they know what
they are doing. “It’ll be easier this
time, for sure,” Bjarki says, before he
bursts out laughing. “But we have to
follow this album through, I guess.
We spent three years on it.”
gpv.is/music
Share this + Archives
The brothers grim
This LP is 20. Feel old yet?
No Sónar this year, thanks WOW!
Peace on earth says JFDR
“It’s been a
learning pro-
cess. The re-
lease is kind of
a graduation for
the both of us.”
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