Icelandic folk pop sensation Ólöf Arnalds has released several sensational videos to promote her new recording, titled Innundir skinni. The music video ‘Surrender‘ features guest vocals from countrymate Bjork. Produced by Sigur Ros’ Kjartan Sveinsson and Davíð Þór Jónsson, the follow up to 2007’s Við og við debut, Innundir skinni features contributions from Björk, Skúli Sverrisson (Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed), Shahzad Ismaily (Tom Waits, Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and many more Icelandic luminaries.
“She has a really idiosyncratic sense of chord structure and a voice somewhere between a child and an old woman! She has her own individuality, and the best is yet to come,”says Bjork.
Of the new album Ólöf has this to say: ‘With my first record I was more surprised with myself writing songs and felt very shy about the process. The songs all came in a period of a few months and I was all at once, writing, playing them to my friends, recording them and starting to perform them.
My aim with Innundir skinni was for it to be a musical development from the first album, yet random and close to my sub-conscious like Við og við. Of course that aim was challenged by how the album ended up being created in short interludes with many collaborators over a considerable amount of time. But I´m happy with the outcome.
The album as a whole ended up being in charge of me rather than me being in charge of it, so the process and the album became what I wanted it to be. I owe that to my collaborators who all showed an enormous amount of patience in playing again and again to get the feel right, allowing me to throw things away, change things, etc. And of course to myself as well for daring to have the last word on what I wanted and putting the emphasis on emotional essence rather than construction of elements.’
Ólöf Arnalds is currently on tour in the United States with Blonde Redhead
Tour Dates
Nov 23 – The Wild Buffalo – Bellingham, WA
Nov 24 – The Showbox at the Market – Seattle, WA
Nov 26 – The Depot – Salt Lake City, UT
Nov 27 – Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
Nov 29 – Warehouse Live Studio – Houston, TX
Nov 30 – Granada Theater – Dallas, TX
Dec 1 – La Zona Rosa – Austin, TX
Buy the album:
- In North America: Innundir skinni. Other recordings available: Við og við
- In Europe: Innundir skinni. Other recordings available: Við og við
Surrender Video
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
