here is a wonderful song i found recently by Icelandic indie folk songstress Ólöf Arnalds, called Crazy Car. it is from her recently released sophomore album "Innundir Skinni" (2011).
Crazy Car is a playful duet between Arnalds et artist Ragnar Kjartansson*, it is a sparse track played on acoustic guitars with some beautiful finger picking, reminiscent of early Leonard Cohen. Arnalds et Kjartansson's vocals play out as a kind of cautionary tale, an entreaty to an unknown recipient, they repeatedly implore: "don't go in the crazy car", at one stage Arnalds urges "please don't go to Ameri-ca". there is an underlying sense of apprehension to the song, melancholy piano chords flutter in et out poignantly adding to the songs overall feeling of cynicism. apparently the song is a tongue-in-cheek plea by Arnalds to a musician friend, not to seek her fame et fortune in America.
Crazy Car is one of three English language songs on the album, the rest are sung hypnotically in her native Icelandic tongue.
Arnalds is a nice alternative to Joanna Newsom, they inhabit similar musical spheres, both instrumentally et with their high trilling voices, yet they both have very unique interpretations of the world around them.
MP3: Crazy Car
take a look at the fantastic music video for Crazy Car, directed by Asdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir et Ragnar Kjartansson!
i implore you to check out the rest of Ólöf Arnalds' amazing album "Innundir Skinni" et her debut "Við og Við" {if you haven't already}, her voice is a thing of ethereal beauty. the albums are available online from itunes et amazon among others.
also check out Arnalds' dark et hypnotic track Surrender, featuring Bjork on backing vocals. you can find the official music video for it here.
* Ragnar Kjartansson is an Icelandic artist who made a dramatic debut in the art scene when he became the youngest Icelandic artist to feature at the Venice Biennale in 2009. Kjartonsson made "The End (Venice)," a six month performance piece, both a homage et satire of Venice's rich artistic et cultural history.
She is really amazing. I attended a show of hers recently at the Trænafestival, in a small chirch far out at sea. I recorded it on video:
ReplyDeletehttp://vimeo.com/26520246
There are a couple of other clips of her there too.