Soundstalker - Olof Arnalds

by


By Stalkette - Camille Gower
Oh Ólöf!
Ólöf Arnalds’ voice ripples and melts like honey on a crumpet; buttery and sweet.
The Icelandic artist who can name Björk, Sigur Rós and Emiliana Torrini as her musical contemporaries describes music as “a completely mysterious, uncontrollable thing”.
Arnalds has a strong background in classical music; she played the violin and viola as a child and taught herself to play guitar and charango (a charango is a “lute-like instrument traditionally made out of the back of the shell of an armadillo” – thank you Wikipedia!)
Described by Oyster magazine as the “elf whisperer” and by Rolling Stone as “bewitching”, Arnalds evokes a magic which demands an audience.
Her first album release in 2006 included treasures “Klara”, “Í Nýju Húsi”, “Moldin” and the cover title “Við Og Við”.
The follow up album “Innundir Skinni” released late last year, appeared in Uncut magazine’s “50 Best Albums of 2010” and has also been nominated for the Nordic Music Prize.
The album includes the quaint yet haunting “Crazy Car” along with Arnalds’ most recent release “Surrender”. Björk provided some of the backing vocals for this recording, alongside Arnalds’ voice which trickles into your consciousness like sunlight filtered through the leaves of a tree.
The film clip for “Surrender” was produced and directed by Icelandic duo Arni & Kinski (who have previously worked on videos for Snow Patrol, Sigur Rós and Placebo) and choreographed by Damian Jalet, who performs in the film clip with Arnalds. The result of this collaboration is intense – beautiful yet almost distressing at the same time, but Arnalds voice floats above it all like a fairy dust: enchanting and ethereal.
Turn off the lights, turn this song up, close your eyes and imagine you’re dancing in the forest in the pouring rain while a beautiful Icelandic nymph serenades you with her golden honey voice. 

Ólöf Arnalds - Surrender (feat. Björk) by automaticdruggie