Ólafur Arnalds – Another Icelandic gem

Fellow TWYE contributor, Zohara, will be doing the rounds in Europe for the next few months so you may find a few reports from her travels. She is particularly excited about this London show and here’s why.

In Australia it is not always easy to get a physical copy of the music you want. Last year neo-classical Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds, released “…and they have escaped the weight of darkness”. I raced around to small independent record stores and to larger music stores but to no avail was I able to find a copy that I could take home that day. The only option was is to get it shipped over from another country. I’ve been listening to his music since I came across his “Found Songs” project on a blog where he wrote and recorded one song per day for one week. This is when his music tapped into a plethora of feelings and emotions within me, even without the use of lyrics or vocal harmonies. I’ve been smitten ever since.

I am visiting Iceland in a few weeks time. I was crossing my fingers that Ólafur Arnalds may be playing when I am there, since I can’t imagine he’d be coming to Australia any time soon, but I heard he was on tour elsewhere. Turns out that he’s playing his new songs (and perhaps some old too) at The Tabernacle on the 7th of February which is the night I arrive in London! Hallelujah! So until then I’ll sit on the plane and brush up on Icelandic language and try to pronounce all of his songs and figure out what they translate to.

For anyone in London, come join! (Unless it’s sold out)

7th February 2011 @ The Tabernacle, 34-35 Powis Square, London