![]() It was such a hit in Iceland that they rerecorded the vocals in English, the translation a collaboration of Ásgeir, his dad, Kiddi, and indie stalwart John Grant, who just happened to be living in Reykjavik and speaks Icelandic. And together they produced a wonderful, engaging, beautiful album I’ve listened to many dozens of time. So Ásgeir came to Kiddi with these passionate, acoustic songs about Air and Home and Silence and Birds Singing. While being totally young, cool, hip, relevant, au courant. Ásgeir’s music reflects that kind of organic, peaceful, rooted mindset. Do you know anyone who would talk about his father like that? Do you personally know any 21 st century human being who would say “I’ve always admired my father’s work”? Can you imagine any budding rock star anywhere in the world who would prefer to spend his summers in a village of 40 old people, in the middle of a bleak and grey landscape, planting trees, rather than touring California with his band? I trust him, and he’s really into it…I’ve always admired my father’s work, ever since I was a kid.” “I like to have my father involved, like a family thing. ![]() He likes quiet.īut his father is a respected poet and lyricist. ![]() Talking for him is akin to throwing a javelin for the rest of us (the Olympic ones are over 2.5 meters long). If you look at an interview (or acoustic performance) with him, you’ll see what an extreme introvert he is. So while Kiddi was mixing, Ásgeir would go into another room and write new songs. When he found out that Ásgeir plays all the instruments himself, he let them go. At one point, Kiddi brought in a dozen studio musicians. Ásgeir was fooling around, playing with new instruments and recording techniques. They were just re-recording songs from the demo. They didn’t set out to record an entire album. It was the first time Ásgeir was in a recording studio. The next day they started recording what would eventually become the album “Dýrð í dauðaþögn”. Kristinn Jónsson (aka Kiddi – unless I missed something in translation it’s Icelandic, after all). He made a demo EP at home, and at 19 took it to a respected young musician/producer, Guðm. His original career choice was the javelin, but when he hurt his back he started to spend more time on his hobby. And the production, the sound palette? Worth the price of admission. ![]() The songs are full of entrancing, mystical landscapes and trolls, buoyed by pop hooks that just don’t let go. And there’s a lot of fine music coming out of Scandinavia.įor about a year now, I’ve found “In the Silence” (the English version) to be really fine music. It was nominated for Best Nordic Album of the Year. Ásgeir debut album has been bought by some 10% of the Icelandic public (that’s about 30,000 copies), and has charted around the world (#8 in Australia, #40 in the UK). (I see s/he has changed hir name, and presumably some other identifying features, and is now called Anhoni.) Think Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, think Jonsi of fellow Icelandic band Sigur Rós, think James Blake think Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons. Ásgeir makes low-key, ghostly, introspective music with an expressive, tremelo falsetto. “I don’t like being in a series of big cities that I don’t know. “I like to go back home as often as possible,” he says. But he spends every summer in Laugarbakki planting trees. He’s now an ultra-cool, fully tattooed indie acoustic cum electronica singer/songwriter whose international career is taking off. By 12 he had formed a garage band in the nearby metropolis of Hvammstangi (pop. There weren’t any other kids, so he grew up playing guitar. 1992) grew up in Laugarbakki, a hamlet of 40 residents (mostly retirees) in northwest Iceland.
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