Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2019, Blaðsíða 32

Music
‘Ágætis Byrjun,’ the break-
through album by Sigur
Rós, is twenty years old on
June 12th. To celebrate, the band are
staging a variety of events looking
back at how the album was made, and
unveiling a time capsule of unseen
archive materials. First of all, the band
will screen a remastered film of their
album release party—20 years later
to the day—on the very same stage of
Gamla Bíó (known at the time as Islen-
ska Operan.) There will also be events
at MENGI and Smekkleysa, where spe-
cial edition LPs will be on sale. Check
the band’s web presences for signup
details. JR

Breakthrough Icelandic coldwave
band Kælan Mikla are on a seemingly
endless upwards trajectory of late. As
well as endless touring, festival
appearances, and becoming bezzies
with goth-in-chief Robert Smith of The
Cure, they have announced that a song
of theirs will soon be coming to your TV
or laptop screen as the theme tune of
a new TV show. “HBO Nordic is releasing
a new comedy series written by
Swedish legend Lukas Moodysson,”
they said, via Facebook. “We are so
proud to announce that our song
“SÝNIR” is the opening theme of the
show ‘GÖSTA.’” Follow Kælan Mikla’s
adventures via their Instagram and
Facebook. JR
The Festival of Sacred Arts continues
until June 10th with a busy pro-
gramme at Hallgrímskirkja. Look out
for performances of Bach cantatas on
Saturday and Sunday (admission is free
for both), and don’t miss the intrigu-
ing combination of Hallgrímskirkja’s
magnificent organ, church bells and
computer technology in ‘Computers,
Klais and Carillon.’ The closing concert
looks to be particularly fine, with the
internationally renowned Hallgrím-
skirkja Schola Cantorum and Motet
Choir joining forces with the Hallgrím-
skirkja International Baroque Choir in
a performance of three Bach cantatas
and the premiere of Veni, Sancte Spiri-
tus by Sigurður Sævarsson. Find further
info at www.kirkjulistahatid.is. FR
MUSIC
NEWS
Levelling Up
Flóni enters stage two
Words & Photo: Sigurður Unnar Ragnarsson
Album
‘Floni 2’ is out now. Listen on Spotify
On every Icelandic hip-hop fan’s
lips, you’ll hear the name Flóni. Af-
ter dropping his debut album only
two years ago, the singer quickly
dominated the scene in a way that
had never been done before. Now,
he’s back with his second endeavour,
‘Flóni 2’—an upbeat effort that has
cemented his rightful place as the
current king of Icelandic hip-hop.
In person, Flóni is intelligent,
open, honest, and—
when it comes to mu-
sic—a self-described
perfectionist. “I real-
ly wanted to take my
time with ‘Flóni 2,’”
he explains, sitting re-
laxed on a sunny day in
the 101derland Studio.
He started working
on it only weeks after
finishing his debut. “I was really
motivated by how positively people
had taken to the first album; I was
kind of riding the high from that,”
he says. “We planned it like a video
game. First level: releasing the al-
bum. Final boss: the album release
concert.”
Super ultra speed mode
In contrast to his first effort, ‘Flóni
2’ is a true pop album. Filled with
heavy synths, guitars and more
catchy melodies than you can count,
it’s an emotional, rhapsodic expe-
rience.
While he produced much of the
album himself, Flóni did have some
unexpected contributors, includ-
ing pianist and composer Magnús
Jóhann Ragnarsson. “He’s a real
synth perv,” Flóni says, smiling. “I
quite like the analogue touch that
he brought to the album.”
The song “Hraðar” is particularly
poignant for the singer. A fast-paced
ode to seizing the day accompanied
by a snappy hi-hat and synth-driven
beat, it’s on this track that he speaks
about how his life has changed since
his music career blew up.
“It’s about being grateful for
the things that you have and en-
joying every second of the day,” he
says. “My life has been on super-ul-
tra-speed mode recently. The past
two years went by in a haze. It’s like
Thanos came and snapped his fin-
gers and they just
disappeared.”
On ‘‘Fyrir Aðra,”
though, Flóni shows
a more persona l
side. The song was
inspired by his close
friend, singer Jökull
Breki, who won his
secondary school
Ve r z l ó ’s a n n u a l
singing competition, Vælið, in 2015
with the song “To Build A Home.”
‘‘I remember thinking how beau-
tiful that song was,’’ Flóni says.
‘‘vJökull was going through some
tough times when I was making the
album, so I was thinking about him
a lot. ‘Fyrir Aðra’ was inspired by
warm thoughts for a friend.’’
Still ratchet
The last two years have been a pe-
riod of growth for the singer, as
he reached an unprecedented level
of popularity in seemingly record
time. “I think the number one thing
that probably every artist who blows
up in Iceland learns is how to be
more professional,” says Flóni. “I
can say that, at the beginning of my
career, I was a pretty ratchet dude.”
“I am still ratchet today, but I’ve
learned to tone it down a bit.”
Life is a video game for ratchet dude Flóni
Sacred Arts 4 u
#VapeWaveHealthGoth
Ágætis Byrjun can now buy booze
“At the begin-
ning of my
career I was a
pretty ratchet
dude.”
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