Ólöf Arnalds, Oslo

Enchanting Icelandic singer Ólöf Arnalds brings her unique breed of folk to Oslo, Hackney.

Icelandic folk musician Ólöf Arnalds has worked with some of her country’s foremost musicians, from avant-garde superstar Bjork to glitch experimentalists Múm. Yet, her sound remains distinctively her own. To coincide with the release of her latest album  Palme,  Arnalds is to perform at Oslo, Hackney on the 29 September. 

In terms of their arrangement, her songs are sparse. On her first album, Við Og Við (2007), finger-picked arpeggios serve as both the rhythmic and melodic core of her sound. Amongst this tangled plucking, winds Arnalds’ enchanting voice, which is at once infantile and assured. These songs are clearly in the folk tradition, but you can detect traces of other influences too: the drifting soundscapes of fellow Icelanders Sigur Rós, and perhaps even the vocal acrobatics of Dirty Projectors, with whom Arnalds has toured.

Since Við Og Við, Arnalds has released two more albums, Inundir Skinni  (2009) and Sudden Elevation (2013), on which she has retained much of her signature hypnotic sound, whilst transforming it into something a little more percussive. On 29 September, she is to release a fourth album, Palme, through One Little Indian Records. A single, ‘Half Steady’, has already been released, which sees Arnalds experimenting with alien-sounding synths.

Her live performances burst with personality; as digressive and captivating as her music, Arnalds often breaks off to tell stories and jokes, or to perform a cover version of some long-forgotten pop song.