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The only problem (if I HAD to pick one) with being Music Editor for a magazine like Bust, is that there’s just not enough time in any given day to write about all the awesome music that gets sent to us for review. One CD that we’ve been loving, but couldn’t quite fit into our last issue, is Olof Arnalds’ Innundir Skinni, which our writer Katie Bain will review for you right here and now:
Icelandic singer and musician Olöf Arnalds floats into our musical consciousness on the gentle power of her sophomore release Innundir Skinni. The album’s nine tracks of fairy folk lullabies are delicate constructions of sparsely arranged guitar and piano that serve as a pretty platform for Arnalds’ angel breath voice. Singing in both Icelandic and English, Arnalds’ clear, ethereal quaver is the driving force of Innundir Skinni‘s celestial daydream sound. With a balance of moments both hushed, (“Crazy Car”), and rambunctious, (“Vinnur Minn”), the album maintains warmth and an elegant simplicity like that of melting ice.
Icelandic legend Bjork contributes her ever-haunting pixie siren call on “Surrender,” a darker track of layered vocals that sounds as though it emanates from an enchanted music box, and Sigur Ros’ Kjartan Sveinsson contributes to the compatriot summit as Innundir Skinni‘s co-producer. Much like watching clouds go by, Innundir Skinni is a pleasant, if mildly lackadaisical, thing to behold.
