Ólöf Arnalds | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Multi-instrumentalist Ólöf Arnalds has established herself as a vital member of the Icelandic musical community, but it wasnt until 2007 that she stepped forward to pursue a solo career with her album Vid Og Vid. Born in 1980, Arnalds began playing music at a young age and is fluent on violin, viola, cello, guitar, and a number of other stringed instruments. Arnalds became interested in international folk music early in her career, through shes performed with a wide variety of artists; shes a touring member of the Icelandic electronic ensemble Múm, and has also played and recorded with Slowblow, Mugison, Nix Noltes, and Kitchen Motors. Arnalds first began to step out into the spotlight on her own as a key collaborator on Skúli Sverrissons award-winning 2006 album Seria; she wrote lyrics and sang lead on three of the albums selections, as well as playing guitar, viola, koto, and charango. After the success of Seria and receiving a degree in composition and new media from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts, Arnalds recorded her solo debut, Vid Og Vid, which was released by the respected independent label 12 Tónar in 2007. The album earned enthusiastic reviews both in Iceland and abroad, and Arnalds toured in support of the release in Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada. Arnalds sophomore outing, the One Little Indian-issued Innundir Skinni, arrived in 2010, and was followed in 2013 by Sudden Elevation and in 2014 by Palme. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 5 Title: Við og við Released: 2007-02-28 Tracks: 10 Duration: 38:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Englar og dárar (02:59) 2 Í nýju húsi (04:34) 3 Klara (02:28) 4 Við og við (05:39) 5 Orfeus og Evridís (05:37) 6 Vittu af mér (04:14) 7 Moldin (03:21) 8 Náttsöngur (04:32) 9 Skjaldborg (03:03) 10 Ævagömul orkuþula (01:58) |
 | Album: 2 of 5 Title: Innundir skinni Released: 2010-09-13 Tracks: 9 Duration: 32:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Vinur minn (02:09) 2 Innundir skinni (02:54) 3 Crazy Car (03:21) 4 Vinkonur (03:57) 5 Svíf birki (02:31) 6 Jonathan (03:52) 7 Madrid (04:52) 8 Surrender (05:23) 9 Allt í gúddí (03:28) |
| Innundir skinni : Allmusic album Review : On her 2010 album, at least with its first song "Vinur Minn," Ólöf Arnalds makes a great claim to be the 21st century version of Isabelle Antena: building on her previous work with easy skill, theres a cinematic lushness to Innundir Skinni right out of the gate that feels almost like a travelog, on the one hand, or a series of intimate, personal reflections on the other. If most of the rest of Innundir Skinni tends toward the calmer side, then theres still that sense of an easygoing reach thats almost breezy throughout; Arnalds sounds engaged and wide-eyed rather than playing in a nook, and on a song like "Jonathon" theres even a slight sense of how she could find her own version of a pop hit if she ever wanted to (assuming that pop was defined by David Sylvians "Orpheus"). Her shifting between English and Icelandic lyrics further emphasizes the dual nature of Innundir Skinni. When she sings "You got mojo, you got soul" on "Crazy Car" it seems like a strange intrusion at first, then more like a way to rework the tropes of the past into a delicate, understated meditation, with guitar and a bit of piano the only backing for her and Ragnar Kjartanssons singing. "Surrender" is another English-language high point, though in ways its more because of the arrangement than the language, as you hear her slow building self-overdub on the chorus as the harp parts and Björks immediately obvious cameo appearance. At points like "Vinkonur," theres a superficial similarity to performers like Joanna Newsom, but Arnalds way around delicate arrangements and higher-pitched singing has its own distinct quality, and is, perhaps, a little less florid all around. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 5 Title: Ólöf Sings Released: 2011-11-08 Tracks: 5 Duration: 17:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Close My Eyes (03:23) 2 With Tomorrow / Im on Fire (04:17) 3 Solitary Man (03:18) 4 She Belongs to Me (02:14) 5 Maria Bethania (03:51) |
 | Album: 4 of 5 Title: Sudden Elevation Released: 2013-02-04 Tracks: 12 Duration: 38:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 German Fields (03:50) 2 Bright and Still (03:17) 3 Return Again (03:49) 4 Treat Her Kindly (02:49) 5 Call It What You Want (04:04) 6 A Little Grim (02:56) 7 Fear Less (02:52) 8 Numbers and Names (03:19) 9 Sudden Elevation (03:55) 10 The Joke (01:44) 11 Onwards and Upwards (02:35) 12 Perfect (03:40) |
| Sudden Elevation : Allmusic album Review : Icelandic singer/songwriter Ólöf Arnalds third studio album, the dreamy, delicate, and oddly regal-sounding Sudden Elevation, is also her first outing to be delivered entirely in English, revealing an artist who, like everybody else in the world, just wants to be loved. With a voice that falls somewhere between the fairy princess croon of Joanna Newsom and the breathy intimacy of Vashti Bunyan, it can be difficult at times to separate the melodies from the vocal affectations, but like her fellow countrywoman Bjork Guðmundsdóttir, it only takes a song or two before the two begin to get along famously. Musically, Arnalds presents a vision of folk music that is almost Elizabethan, suggesting a world of romance, intrigue, and pastoral, summery castle grounds, albeit ones where Jónsi is the court jester and the court composer is Sufjan Stevens instead of Thomas Tallis. That notion is best exemplified by two of the albums strongest cuts, the intoxicating opener "German Fields" and its equally beguiling mid-set partner in crime "A Little Grim," both of which utilize the singer/songwriters myriad quirks in extremely naturalistic ways. Sometimes, as is the case on the lovely yet slight "Bright and Still," the simplistic lyrics transcend naiveté and venture dangerously close to obtuse, but for the most part, Arnalds shows a pretty decent command of the language, which would probably explain songs like "Treat Her Kindly," "Numbers and Names," and the sparse title track, all of which suggest a steady diet of Joni Mitchell albums. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 5 Title: Palme Released: 2014-09-29 Tracks: 8 Duration: 30:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Turtledove (03:10) 2 Defining Gender (03:46) 3 Hypnose (03:55) 4 Palme (03:55) 5 Patience (04:33) 6 Half Steady (04:37) 7 Han Grete (02:50) 8 Soft Living (03:17) |
| Palme : Allmusic album Review : The fourth long-player from the ghostly Icelandic singer/songwriter and cousin of ghostly Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds, Palme arrives just one year after 2013s bucolic Sudden Elevation, and while it retains its predecessors magical lilt, its an icier confection thats as pure as powdered snow, yet bubbling over with fairy mischief. At just over half-an-hour, Palme doesnt mince words; its pleasures are meticulously crafted and perfectly executed, and they succeed or fail based only on which way the listener falls in regards to Arnalds idiosyncratic voice, much like Joanna Newsoms. Musically, Palme is a melting pot of Icelandic electro-folk, worldbeat, indie rock, ambient pop and something else altogether, and it works best as a whole, blithely weaving its way from beginning to end like a pair of Hobbits returning to the Shire after a long adventure -- this is a country where people protest the building of new highways that interfere with the natural habitat of elves. That said, while tracks like the languid and lovely "Turtledove" and the like-minded title cut soar above the listener in the most pleasing and comforting way, songs like "Defining Gender" and "Patience," with their knotty arrangements and serpentine melodies, add an undercurrent of the mystical to Palme that renders even the simplest fruits deliciously unattainable. Arnalds, like her cousin, is a weaver of ephemera, and with each new collection of music, she both defines herself and furthers her own mythology, a mythology thats wholly intertwined with the lore of her Nordic homeland. | ||