Handome, funny, talented and above all: Icelandic! We're talking Ólafur Arnalds.
His music is usually described as a combination of classical with post-rock climaxes, with grandiose extremes, orchestral ambience, and since his last album: poetic lyrics sung by a man who looks nothing like it but sounds like an angel: Arnor Dan.
"Roaring lungs, as oath becomes through flight past trees
Only the rhythm of love escapes the harmonies
Leaving us a beat"
From Old Skin
Pay attention to the video for this song too, it is really enchanting in combination with the music.
One of my other favourites is Til Enda. I couldn't find a version with a proper video, so just don't look at it :P
The name of this this song means something like 'The light comes slowly' and the video is also beautiful and brilliantly animated. It's called Hægt, kemur ljósið.
I've been to two of Ólafur's shows, both in the same venue in Amsterdam. He makes a lot of jokes between the songs, which is a nice contrast with the seriousness of the music, which he plays with an intention only rivalled by Sigur Rós's imperturbable frontman. The first time I went to see him live, Ólafur asked us to sing a note and recorded it, then played it as part of the next song. Appearantly we were the first audience to ever ask for a re-recording because someones voice had wavered from an A to a B and back, and you heard it :p It was in Paradiso, where they have those plastic cups that make a hollow ringing sound when they topple over -which they do all the time, especially during the quiet, intimate parts- and he recorded that too, with everyone dropping their cup at the same time. It is the sharig of such moments that make concerts memorable and give the artist just a slight head start in the race for the title of 'my favourite'. Currently thee musicians share it and Ólafur is well on his way to making it a shared 4.
Here is one last one for the road, probably one of my favourite songs of all time: Ljósið
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| A shot from 'Old Skin' |
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