ÁSGEIR

Ásgeir became a huge star in Iceland just as he was turning 20 years old. His debut album, which came out in 2012, ended up being the fastest-selling debut album in Icelandic history. We’re talking even more successful than Björk!

Originally performed in Icelandic, the songs were subsequently translated into English with the help of John Grant, and released internationally under the title In the Silence. The leading single from it, “King & Cross”, has - to date - had just under 60 million streams on Spotify alone.

What is it that makes Ásgeir’s music so attractive to the ear? It is, essentially, about the combination of the poetic lyrics (some of which were, in fact, written by his father), Ásgeir’s soft and soothing voice and the melodic richness that shines through both those of his songs that are layered with many dimensions of arrangements and those that are more stripped back.

Ásgeir’s most recent record, Time On My Hands, released in 2022, took the sound he had developed over the preceding decade and incorporated an additional, electronic aesthetic into the production, creating a beautiful blend of folk and pop.

For this episode of Melody A.M., Ásgeir has very kindly given us two acoustic recordings to share with our listeners. One is an Icelandic version of his song “Eventide”, which originally appeared on his 2020 album, Bury The Moon. The second recording is a stripped-back revisit of his 2019 single, “Youth”.

In our interview, Ásgeir tells Melody A.M. about the harsh winter they’ve had in Reykjavik, he talks about the evolution of his writing and his sound, he gives an insight as to how he sometimes likes to pass the time when he’s on tour and shares his dream of where he’d like to one day perform live.