Einarsson might not have been around for all that long, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that he’s the next in succession in a long line of intelligent and complex musicians to hail from Iceland. In keeping with the likes of Bjork and Sigur Ros, who also hail from Einarsson’s homeland, his music - best described as a melodic form of folk - focuses primarily on subtlety, nuance and cleverness of construction; his career only began in earnest in 2012, but he quickly made a name for himself as one of the most exciting prospective talents of his generation. Einarsson played guitar in a band by the name of The Lovely Lion, but has found more success by standing on his own two feet.
He took the Icelandic charts by storm in 2012 with his debut album, ‘Dýrð í dauðaþögn’, topping both the albums charts and singles charts - the latter with ‘Hvitir skor’ - for several weeks at a time. He released an English translation of the album in late 2013, with assistance from the revered American singer-songwriter John Grant, one of Einarsson’s early champions. He’s gone on to release a couple of music videos from the English version of the album, including ‘Torrent’ and ‘King and Cross’.
Ásgeir - if you can pronounce his name correctly, you are already on your way to being a big fan of this soulful artist. Already a big thing in his native country of Iceland, Ásgeir is on his way to world domination with a relentless tour that is spanning the globe throughout 2014 & early 2015. This was my second time seeing Ásgeir this year. His June concert at Black Cat sold out and was one of my favorites for the year. Last night's show was no exception. Instead of opening with one of his tunes in his native tongue as he did this summer (he saved that for the second song), he started off with "Head in the Snow" - one of my personal favorites. Not only do his songs have impeccable, peaceful musicality, but the lyrics also convey such beautiful poetry and purity of spirit. His songs run a gamut of atmospheric electronica, in the vein of Bon Iver, to a rolling, old school country-folk, traveling troubadour vibe. His live show is fun to watch - and it was even more fun noticing how Ásgeir has relaxed a bit on stage, interacting and smiling a little bit more than when he was here in June. But don't expect him to be chit-chatty - he and his band are there to share their art, and partaking in it is such a pleasure. The live set switches back and forth between English and Icelandic, but not to worry - the tunes are the same with each, so even if you don't understand the Icelandic, you'll enjoy the familiarity of the song (assuming you're familiar with his catalog before going to see him). One of my favorite moments of the show was when he came back to play two songs for an encore, and the first song was just him and his guitar ("On That Day") and then the full band came out to close with "Torrent". It highlighted the dimension this artist has. I for one am excited to keep following along his career and see what next steps he takes as an artist. And I can't wait till he gets back here to see him live again!
lauren.taggart
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