05 Aug Our Favorite Icelandic Music

Music is one of our favorite things–both Micah and I love going to concerts and finding new artists, so we always try to find fun local music when we travel.

Inga from Tiny Iceland gave us some tips on who to check out and directed us towards a music shop in downtown Reykjavik. When we were at the store, we started talking to the girl who worked there and she offered to play some of the music for us–she was so helpful and it was nice getting a preview of the albums before purchasing them.

We came to the conclusion that most everyone in Iceland must be musical, because there are so many astounding musicians that come from Iceland. Even the musicians in the bars are awesome; we are drawn to the music that originates from this tiny country. Not including the obvious Bjork, here is some of our favorite Icelandic music:

Of Monsters and Men

Okay, so with their recent rise to fame, Of Monsters and Men is also a pretty obvious addition to this list, but they are one of our absolute favorite bands, and we couldn’t skip including them. We happened to catch their show in Orlando, Florida, last year and they sound just as good live as they do on their album. The show was perfect and filled with an incredible energy–we even got to meet a few of the band members after the show.

Sóley

We have been listening to Sóley for about a year now, and we love her unique style and quirkiness. Her songs are very different and have a dreamlike vibe to them, which really drew us in. We were fortunate enough to see her open for Of Monsters and Men and meet her after the show as well. Another fun fact, everyone seems to know everyone in Iceland since its such a small county, and we found out that one of Inga’s friends, who we hung out with the Saturday night we arrived, is good friends with Sóley. Small world, or should I say small country!

Sin Fang

This was one of the two albums we purchased from the music shop. Remember the great song we used for our Iceland video? That was a song by the talented Sin Fang. Sin Fang was one of the musicians that Inga recommended to us and we are so glad she did, as they have quickly become another one of our favorites. We realized after we got home, that Sin Fang and Sóley actually used to play in a band together called Seabear, which is also another good band.

Ásgeir Trausti

And last but not least, Ásgeir Trausti. Inga introduced us to his music as well and upon hearing that he was like an Icelandic Bon Iver, we immediately knew we were going to like him. After hearing a quick sample at the music shop, we were sold. Even though we aren’t totally sure what the songs mean when he sings in Icelandic, we still really enjoy the music. Our favorite song is Sumargestur–it has such a great sound to it and we barely even notice we have no idea what some of the lyrics actually mean!

Do you like finding music when you travel?  We hope you check out and enjoy all these talented musicians as much as we do!