Premiere: Samaris – Brennur Stjarna

Youthful Icelandic group continue to impress...

It’s no exaggeration to say that Iceland is a land of song.

Put simply: if you throw a stone down Reykjavik’s main street, then it will probably hit two musicians, a painter and a performance poet.

And that’s on a quiet day. Samaris are quite unfeasibly young. Singer Jófríður has only just turned 19, with the trio using their youth, their inexperience to craft something quite spellbinding.

New single ‘Brennur Stjarna’ utilises lyrics taken from 19th century Icelandic poetry, matching these words against an arrangement which fuses the organic (lilting clarinets, hymnal vocals) against the digital (pulse like beats, splintered electronics).

The results have a curiously alien feel, yet are immediately engrossing. It’s almost as if through lingering on the fringes of Europe, these Icelandic musicians are able to absorb everything which comes their way, yet reflect it back in a quite unusual fashion.

Out this week, you can watch the video for ‘Brennur Stjarna’ below.

Catch Samaris at the Green Man Festival on August 17th.

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