Whilst for many, Iceland is associated with plane-grounding volcanic eruptions and sweeping landscapes, it is equally home to a surprising number of recognisable artists for just a small island of not even 400,000 inhabitants. Björk, Sigur Rós, Of Monsters and Men and KALEO are just a handful of the biggest names hailing from the land of fire and ice. But why is this small Nordic island such a hotspot for musical innovation?
Storytelling, as evidenced by the prolific Viking sagas, has always been an important aspect of Icelandic culture, with tales of adventure having been transmitted orally from generation to generation. Alongside this prose tradition, epic verse poems known as rímur date back to the 14th century that similarly reflected the awe and danger of the environment, mythological legends featuring trolls and elves as well as more human stories of love and loss, usually in an acapella singing style known as að kveða. As the culture of the Icelanders developed from the first Viking settlers, it was largely unspoiled by external influences, allowing it to flourish organically in all its eccentricity and uniqueness.
There is an emphasis on nature or rather naturalness that appears to characterize Icelandic music; as if it is something directly inspired by the Earth and all its beautiful, violent processes. In turn, Icelanders, perhaps more subject to the elements than people of less geographically shifting lands, are seen as more unpredictable, less restrained by artificial stability and therefore tending towards artistic expression. Whether or not this romanticised image is justified is debatable, but as a result, the creativity of all Icelandic musicians is inextricably linked with their nationality as Sigurðardóttir writes here. In fact, it is very difficult to identify a common thread between the warm jazz tones of Laufey and the electronic stylings of GusGus. It is perhaps this extraordinary genre diversity and success over such a wide variety of styles that begs for these justifications of nature instilling a certain creativity in its people, as the common link can only be their origins.
During my own travels in Iceland, I found that most people I met always had a creative passion that, even if it didn’t pay the bills, formed a key aspect of their identity. For some reason, it didn’t feel uncommon to encounter a fisherman who played bass in an experimental punk band at the weekends. Moreover, being a professional musician doesn’t appear to carry the same stigma it can elsewhere. The ‘don’t quit your day job’ mentality isn’t as prevalent, and artists aren’t seen as ‘wasting their time’ but rather actively encouraged to thrive in creative environments. Music schools are ubiquitous and supported financially by the city, instilling a value on musicality from an early age. Influential festivals such as Iceland Airwaves spotlight new talent annually, often the stage of both local and international hidden gems.
Reykjavík is a capital filled to the brim with young creatives that traditionally has many live music venues from intimate stages like Húrra and Gaukurinn to Harpa Concert Hall- an architectural marvel of glass shaped like basalt columns found in Iceland’s landscape. Yet, as one Guardian article has recently illuminated, some of these iconic venues have started to be “swallowed by tourism”, like Kex, an old biscuit factory turned hostel that sacrificed its stage for more guest rooms to accommodate the surge of tourism in recent years. 2024 also saw the end of LungA due to lack of funding, an art festival held in the tiny village of Seydisfjördur in the Eastern fjords that gave a stage to a wide range of the most popular to the most avant-garde artists. The country’s unique creative hotpot, historically fostered by geographical isolation and lack of external input, could now be in a Björkian “state of emergency” due to an overwhelming influx of international influence.
If you like Björk, you might like Finally We Are No One by múm,
This album, composed in a lighthouse in the remote and wild Westfjords, is a soothing patchwork of innovative rhythms and instruments that produce ethereal, magical sounds.
