Music is a huge part of our lives. It’s the background to many important moments and a beautiful reminder of our memories. We all have our favorite songs, artists, albums, and playlists, right? I don’t know about you, but I find myself hitting the Spotify ‘Release Radar’ playlist quite often. As a music lover, I don’t want to miss out on new content, as there are always at least two new songs going into my well-worn playlists. Let’s dive into my favorite artists from Iceland’s music scene. Hopefully, they’ll become better known outside of Iceland. With Icelandic singer Björk and Icelandic rock bands like Kaleo and Sigur Rós becoming a part of the international music scene, it’s clear that Iceland has musical talent. I would be so incredibly proud to see more Icelandic music coming out into the world!
Iceland’s Music Scene – Ásgeir
This handsome, 25-year old musician is definitely in my top 3 music makers, if not my favorite! And forgive me for cheating a little bit, because he is actually known outside of Iceland. He won an EBBA Award for his success abroad, and I would love to see his popularity grow even further.
He fell in love with the music world around the age of six when he started having guitar and piano classes. His mother would also play the organ at church on Sundays, and his brother is a guitarist. He also gained songwriting skills from his father, who wrote poetry from when he was very little. In fact, most of the songs Asgeir has created thus far are his father’s poems.
It’s a bit hard to define the music genre he belongs to. The artist says that if there were be a description of it, it would be ‘Electro-folk’.
Ásgeir Trausti released his first album Dýrð í dauðaþögn back in 2012 to great success in Iceland. Two years later, in collaboration with the American Singer John Grant, he launched the English version of his debut album called ‘In The Silence’.
After disappearing from the music scene for a few years, he reemerged in 2017 with his latest effort titled ‘Afterglow’. After hearing the songs, you can tell that the artist absolutely loves what he does. The album invites you to enjoy the music in a different way and gives off a feeling of warmth. The talented artist plays both the piano and the guitar and offers a great live performance.
Hildur
This pop artist actually started her career very early on at the tender age of six. Surprisingly enough, singing is not where she started. She was cello player! Yes, for eight years she played that big, beautiful instrument. It was not until years later that she founded her first band in Reykjavik in 2006. She created it with some of her friends from school and they called themselves Rökkurró.
She currently is a solo artist, and she came out with her first solo album last year. ‘Heart to Heart’ is not only her debut album but every song is in English. Her voice is a complete delight to our ears. When that voice is accompanied by an undeniably good electro-pop beat, it’s hard press play on her album more than once in a row.
Apparat Organ Quartet
Last but not least is Apparat Organ Quartet. I love unusual things, which is why I’m showcasing this band. I would love them be seen outside of my home country.
This Reykjavik band has been around for a very long time. It was founded in 1999, so it’s technically a 90’s band. But I love their music and the group deserves your attention!
Over time the four musicians have changed and evolved, using different sounds and styles. They burst onto Iceland’s music scene with a minimalistic post-rock sound and riff-driven tones. Their style has now some to be more of an electro-robotic style along with some hard rock beats.
Iceland’s Music Scene – Famous bands and musicians in Iceland
Now that you have some new Icelandic music and Icelandic bands to discover, which one do you think will be part of your playlists?
