Tag: Icelandic Music Awards

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Rising Icelandic Artist Laufey Teams Up with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra on a Gorgeous Single

Laufey Lin, best known as the mononym Laufey, is a rising, 21 year-old Chinese-Icelandic singer/songwriter, cellist and pianist. Spending much of her childhood in Reykjavik, Lin grew up influenced by classical music and jazz, and by the time she was 15, she performed with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Interestingly, despite her love of the music that served as her musical foundation, she yearned to express herself by creating music that blended her classical background with her more modern/contemporary influences.

While attending Berklee College of Music, she began to collaborate with some of her peers. Lin recorded her debut single “Street By Street,” which revealed a unique blend of jazz melodies paired with slow-burning R&B grooves, the day before campus was shut down as a result of the pandemic. Making the most out of the unexpected times during pandemic-related lockdowns, Lin decided to self-release her debut single through her social media. The song, along with performance videos she posted of covers and originals quickly went viral. Eventually, “Street By Street” hit #1 on the Icelandic charts — and she began to amass a massive following that includes Billie Eilish, Willow Smith, dodie, and others.

Adding to a breakthrough year, the Chinese-Icelandic artist landed her own music series on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds. Lin also Best New Artist at the Iceland Music Awards. And all of these accomplishments took place before the release of her debut EP Typical of Me, which has amassed over 10 million streams across all digital streaming platforms.

Building upon her breakthrough year, Laufey’s latest single, “Let You Break My Heart Again” sees the rising young artist collaborating with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra. Featuring acoustic guitar, Laufey’s lovely vocal and breathtakingly gorgeous orchestral arrangement, “Let You Break My Heart Again” is an old Hollywood-inspired ballad centered around modern yet familiar sentiment: The song’s narrator has a youthful love affair that’s hopelessly unrequited and disappointing; But all is not lost. The song ends with its narrator — with subtle pride — saying that someday she’ll get over this lover and find a love that’s requited and worth her time.

“The Philharmonia – one of the world’s great orchestras – prides itself on supporting the next generation of incredible artists, and we are hugely proud to work alongside Laufey on this track,” Alexander Van Ingen, Chief Executives of the Philharmonia Orchestra says in press notes. “Laufey has an exceptional vocal and songwriting talent, and we are so pleased to have made this work across the Atlantic during the pandemic; we look forward to welcoming Laufey to London in the autumn for her performance in the EFG London Jazz Festival at our London residence, the Southbank Centre.”

“I wrote this song about a guy that I was hopelessly in love with,” Laufey adds. “I let him disappoint me again and again simply because I liked him so much. It’s the kind of blind love you experience in your youth, inspired by the sounds of old Hollywood films. I’m so honored to collaborate with the London Philharmonia Orchestra on this song. Growing up a classical musician, I’ve been a fan of them for years. The orchestral arrangement lifts the song to new heights with luscious strings, winds and graceful harmonies. I was also so happy to play cello on the track!”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Icelandic Indie Rock Act Mammut Releases a Brooding and Dramatic Video for “The Moon Will Never Turn On Me”

Comprised of Katrina Mogensen (vocalist), the daughter of Birgir Mogensen, who played alongside Björk in one of her first bands, Alexandra Baldursdóttir (guitar), Arnar Pétursson (guitar), Ása Dýradóttir (bass) and Andri Barter Jakobson (drums), the Icelandic indie rock quintet Mammut formed when its members were just 14 — and they derive their name from from the Icelandic word for “mammoth,” which the band’s Mogensen reportedly “plucked out of the air” before their stage debut.

In their native Iceland, the band is — well, rather huge. They won Iceland’s national battle of the bands, Músíktilraunir and subsequently have been nominated for several Icelandic Music Awards; in fact, their third album 2014’s Komdu til Mín Svarta Systir won three of its eight nominations including Pop & Rock Album and Pop and Rock Song for “Salt.” However, the band’s recently release effort Kinder Versions may arguably be their most ambitious to date, as the album finds Mogensen writing and singing lyrics completely in English for the first time in the band’s history. And with album single “The Moon Will Never Turn On Me,” you’ll quickly get a sense of why the band is so big in their homeland — they specialize in a brooding, highly dramatic and populist-leaning indie rock, complete with rousingly anthemic hooks. And while there’s clearly a viscerally earnest yearning and heartache at the core of the song, there’s an underlying sense of resignation that says “welp, things are going to be turbulent and shitty for a while, hold on as tight as you can.” Unsurprisingly as the band explains in press notes, the song is ultimately about the moment when you realize that you have to sit back, let go and then embrace and accept every horrible thing that may come in front of you — because in the larger scheme of things, it will be temporary,. and the world will continue to spin regardless. 

Directed by the band’s Katrína Mogensen, the recently released video is a fittingly moody one that features the members of the band struggling through a fitful and seemignly endless nightmare-fueled night of sleep — and interestingly enough, the video manages to further emphasize the sense of tumult at the core of the song. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Katrina Mogensen (vocalist), the daughter of Birgir Mogensen, who played alongside Björk in one of her first bands, Alexandra Baldursdóttir (guitar), Arnar Pétursson (guitar), Ása Dýradóttir (bass) and Andri Barter Jakobson (drums), the Icelandic indie rock quintet Mammut formed when its members were just 14 — and they derive their name from from the Icelandic word for “mammoth,” which the band’s Mogensen “plucked out of the air” before their stage debut.

In their native Iceland, the band is — well, huge. They won Iceland’s national battle of the bands, Músíktilraunir and subsequently have been nominated for several Icelandic Music Awards in fact, their third album 2014’s Komdu til Mín Svarta Systir won three of its eight nominations including Pop & Rock Album and Pop and Rock Song for “Salt.” Interestingly, the band’s forthcoming effort Kinder Versions reportedly finds the band at their most ambitious with Mogensen writing and singing lyrics completely in English. And as soon as you hear Kinder Versions‘ latest single “The Moon Will Never Turn On Me,” you’ll quickly get a sense of why the band is so big in their homeland — they specialize in a brooding, dramatic, shamanistic-like and bombastic arena rock sound, complete with rousing hooks; and while there’s also a viscerally earnest yearning and heartache at the core of the song, there’s also a sense of resignation that says “things will be shitty for a while, hold on tight.”  And in fact, as the band explains the song is about that moment when you realize that moment when you have to sit back, let go and embrace every horrible thing that comes in front of you — because after all, it’s temporary and the world goes on spinning regardless.