Reykjavík Grapevine - des. 2020, Síða 24

‘What Love Is’
By Rex Pistols
Lu!osi, don’t be afraid of this art
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photos: Art Bicnick
Track By Track
Stream 'What Love Is’ on all
platforms. Cassette version on
myrkfaelni.bandcamp.com
Goth isn’t dead, people. It’s alive and
thriving in downtown Reykjavík in
the form of Rex Pistols, who recently
dropped ‘What Love Is,’ a soundtrack
for the lace-gown-wearing introspec-
tive romantic heroines of the world.
To satiate our synthcore goth needs,
we sat down with Rex herself to go
through the album track by track.
‘What Love Is’ is an explora-
tion of love in all its forms and
how it has shaped my inner emo-
tional world, my psyche and how
I navigate life. Ultimately, it’s an
album of love songs, but mostly
not centred around romance. The
album was conceptualised, writ-
ten and recorded over the course of
months—partly before lockdown,
partly during—where love was all
I could think of. I found it and I lost
it over and over, while my deep-
est friendships prevailed as the
most important love relationships
I have.
Don’t Be Afraid of my Heart
A call to my friend and lover who
could not let themselves catch up
to my love in time. It was a rela-
tionship where there was love, but
just different kinds. Not unrequit-
ed, just out of sync.
Water Dance
Abandoning myself to my deep-
est fears and desires in a dark,
cavernous watery canyon. I wrote
this song in my head, humming to
myself while floating alone in the
hot tub at my old gym, which was
in a super dark grey room.
Pray For Love
My complete frustration of repeat-
ed unrequited romance, deceit and
disappointment. I have had only
a small handful of romantic rela-
tionships, but mostly a series of
doomed love affairs, and this was
me being fed up with it.
Draumur
The loves I meet in my most re-
alistic dreams that disappear the
moment I wake. I’m a very active
dreamer. I meet everyone I know
in my dreams and they feel so real.
It can make waking life very con-
fusing, especially when it comes to
the way I feel about people.
Lunar Palace
An orbiting fantasy world for one
who does not believe in the after-
life. I imagined this place in my
dreams as well, and it looked like
a cross between the ivory tower
in The NeverEnding Story and the
moon kingdom of Sailor Moon.
Laws of Passion
My unbridled urgent desire to
devour another body, my raven-
ous sexual hunger that requires
immediate release. We were two
months into lockdown and I was
horny as fuck.
Cosmic Intimacy
The purity of my connections with
my friends that no time or space
can come between us, where we
converge mentally in perfect sync,
where we meet each other with no
judgement, just unconditional love
and acceptance.
Glittering Moon
An ode to the truest love in my life,
my best friend in the universe, who
is always with me no matter where
we are. The title of the album also
is derived from the name of a video
art piece we made together based
on one of the funniest moments
we’ve ever had together.
White Gold
A farewell to someone beloved,
in the moment when they began
to leave their body. The entire al-
bum started from this song, which
came to me the night I learned that
my grandmother was dying. If the
album is a package, this is the rib-
bon around it.
Don’t Be Afraid… Reprise:
Just a reminder: believe that our
love won’t tear us apart..
The best of Icelandic produce
with a nod to Japan and South
America. Modern Icelandic
flavours, share plates and award
winning cocktails.
Sushi Social
!ingholtsstræti 5 • 101 Reykjavík
Tel. 568 6600 • sushisocial.is
Our kitchen is open
17.00–23.00 sun.–thu.
17.00–24.00 fri.–sat.
SOCIALIZE
WITH THE
LOCALS
ICELANDIC
SEAFOOD
makes world’s best sushi
24The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10— 2020
Rex Pistols, disarmed
Music