Reykjavík Grapevine - sep. 2020, Side 24

Ólafur Arnalds announced
in late August that he was
releasing a new album on
November 6th. This is particularly excit-
ing news because we hear one of the
Grapevine's favourites, JFDR, will appear
on the album, as will one of this writer’s
favourite artists, Bonobo. The German
singer Josin is also adding her talents
to the mix. Ólafur Arnalds is, of course,
one of Europe's top leading electro musi-
cians and he has a BAFTA win an Emmy
nomination to prove it. His last album,
're:member', was widely praised and
Ólafur followed it up with playing on 150
concerts all over the world. VG
Up and coming singer Laufey Lín
Jónsdóttir has been inundated by a
flurry of new Instagram followers after
a video of her singing Billie Eilish song
“My Future” was shared by Billie herself.
Some readers may already be aware of
Laufey, as a contestant on both Ísland
Got Talent and The Voice Iceland. Among
those who have expressed admiration
for the young musician is Au#ur, who
says that she is one of the most talented
musicians he’s worked with. Laufey is
currently in London, where she’s record-
ing an album and launching her music
career in earnest. Her future is looking
bright, so watch this space! JD
Icelandic composer Hildur Gu#nadóttir
has added another prestigious award
to her impressive list of wins from the
past year, with an Opus Klassik nod for
Most Innovative Concert of the Year for
a live performance of her compositions
for the HBO miniseries 'Chernobyl'. The
German prize for classical music sits
proudly alongside her Academy Award
and her Golden Globe for Best Original
Score (Joker), her Grammy for Best
Score Soundtrack (Chernobyl) and her
World Soundtrack Award for Television
Composer of the Year (Chernobyl). Also
honoured at the Opus Klassik awards
was pianist Víkingur Hei#ar Ólafsson,
who won the award for Best Solo Pianist
for his album of reinterpreted works by
Debussy and Rameau. JD
MUSIC
NEWS
Celebratin! A
Spooky Sound
Hekla Ma!núsdóttir harnesses the power of a
unique instrument
Words: Sam O’Donnell Photo: Art Bicnick
Album
‘Sprungur’ is available now on
Spotify and Bandcamp
In a small garage on Öldugata, a
humble studio houses the equip-
ment that Hekla Magnúsdóttir
uses to create the type of music
that gets under your skin, crawls
around, lays eggs and then hatches
into spiders that bite you until you
listen to it again. It’s good stuff.
Eerie equipment
Hekla plays the theremin, an elec-
tronic instrument controlled with-
out any physical contact by the per-
former. It’s a box with two antennas,
one controlling the pitch of the note
and one controlling the volume. The
effect is an eerie sound that would
be right at home in a horror movie.
Hekla released her new EP ‘Sprun-
gur’ on August 27th
and she says it’s more
conceptual than the
album she released
in 2018. “I was think-
ing more of entering
some kind of alternate
horror dimension or
something,” she says with a smile.
The first track is called Velkominn,
and it features growling voices of
horrific beasts welcoming the listen-
er to the show. The rest of the album
is a haunting, atmospheric experi-
ence. “I wanted it to be...like an im-
aginary horror movie soundtrack.”
Bending the rules
Hekla has a musical background. “I
started playing cello around 9,” she
says. “I was always making my own
songs.” She got her first theremin
when she was 18 and lost interest in
the cello. She says she likes how much
more approachable the theremin is.
“You don’t have to be formal. You can,
if you want, but it’s not restrictive.
It doesn’t have a rule book, which
kind of also makes it more difficult
to approach,” she says and laughs.
There may not be a rule book,
but there are legitimate techniques
that performers have illustrated in
the instrument’s 100-year history. “I
have gone to a couple of these ther-
emin academies,” she says. “They’re
people who meet in different cities of
Europe and play together,” she says.
“There are also classes and stuff,
like there are proper techniques,
but I like to kind of take things that
I like or are useful to me and also
[take] my own approach,” she shrugs.
Hekla is currently making graphic
notations of her personal approach
to the theremin. “I’m planning to
do a little book with an introduc-
tion to theremin
g raph ic not a-
tion that’s easy
to understand.”
Surf
symphony
Beyond taking full advantage of
the spooky sound the theremin
produces, Hekla is also working
with a group of musicians to pro-
duce a surf rock symphony. Think
Dick Dale meets Johann Sebastian
Bach. “There’s a rondeau, a min-
uet, allegro and adagio,” she says.
While it ’s unclear when the
surf symphony will be available,
but ‘Sprungur’ is available now
on Spotify and Bandcamp. It’s a
perfectly eerie experience, just
in time for autumn and celebrat-
ing the theremin’s centennial.
“I wanted it to be...
like an imaginary
horror movie
soundtrack.”
Hekla Magnúsdóttir, making waves
Music
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