Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.08.2019, Page 35

35The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13— 2019
Everything Will
Be All Right
K.óla on her brand new album and
playing with Björk
Words: Phil Uwe Widiger Photo: Art Bicnick
Album
“Allt verður alltílæ” is out now at
post-dreifing.bandcamp.com.
Contact K.óla through Facebook
to purchase a handmade physical
copy
K.óla is Katrín Ólafsdóttir, a
22-years-young artist who just re-
leased her anticipated new album
‘Allt verður alltílæ.’ It features sev-
en heartfelt songs, full of cool bass
riffs, catchy melodies and honest
lyrics. And it’s all thanks to choc-
olate and boring piano practices.
And six cats. Katrín really likes
cats.
Least Netflixy
study break ever
“That’s how I started making mu-
sic—being bad at practicing pi-
ano,” Katrín laughs. When she was
around eight years old, she studied
piano but instead of practicing, she
quickly started writing her own
songs. Katrín also belonged to a
children’s choir, which she mainly
enjoyed because of the hot choco-
late that was served after rehears-
als. She went on to join the band
Milkhouse and today studies com-
position at the Iceland University
of the Arts.
During a chill study-break, Ka-
trín finished the new album and
went to New York to appear with
her choir Hamrahlíðarkórinn at
eight of Björk’s ‘Cornucopia’ con-
certs.
“That was like the best month
of my life so far,” Katrín beams.
“Björk is one of my idols. She is
always developing, and she is not
afraid to go her own way. I also love
how she expresses emotions—both
lyrically and musically.”
Of wine glasses
and glass castles
Whereas “K.óla” was first invented
as a moniker for signing Katrín’s
artworks, it rap-
idly became the
na me for a ny
output that Ka-
trín thought was
“cool or fun.” In
2017, she unof-
ficially released
the album ‘Glas-
manía,’ which
focused on play-
ing wine glass-
es. In fact, one of
the songs from
that album, “Glerkastalinn,” is also
featured on ‘Allt verður alltílæ.’
“Some of the songs were already
out, but I wasn’t completely happy
with them,” says Katrín. “So I de-
cided to finish this bundle of songs
and throw it out there and start
something new.”
The writing for the new album
began around two years ago when
Katrín purchased an electric bass
and began to learn how to play it.
She explains that these songs all
belong to the same period in her
life. “They were all about being
young and not knowing what you
want or what other people expect
of you,” she says.
Behind the
spotlight
‘A l lt verður a l lt í læ’ l itera l ly
means “everything will be okay,”
which has been a guiding man-
tra through Katrín’s life. “It ’s
like a reminder to myself when
I get stressed about things,” she
explains. “Some of the lyrics are
very honest and it's sometimes
scary to say them. But I think
it's easier to say them in a song
than reading them out loud on
stage.” Developing her visual art
and stage costumes also serves
as a means to maintain distance
between the persona in the spot-
light and the one who writes the
lyrics behind the scenes.
Another
album?!
The last track of
the album, called
“Bros í sólina,” is a
string-driven bal-
lad that is an ode to
friendship. It also
serves as a bridge
to a new album that
will see the light of
day this November.
“It's a very different atmosphere,”
Katrín finishes. Like her musical
heroine, it seems K.óla will contin-
ue to develop in fresh and interest-
ing directions.
“The songs were
all about being
young and not
knowing what
you want or what
other people ex-
pect of you.”
Behind the wizard's mask
gpv.is/music
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