Ólöf Arnalds

Over the past two decades Iceland has established itself as a bold and creative force in the music world. Artists such as Bjork and Sigur Ros have seemed to have created a worldwide sensation. They abandoned the principle of following pre-constructed song templets and redefined what pop music could be. Olof Arnalds is a musician who thinks in a similar way. Her songs are simplistic and catchy, but they exert an independence from the mainstream generics heard across the radio. Her live performances are highly minimalistic, primarily consisting of just vocals and classical guitar. However the emotion and beauty behind her music seems just as powerful as an entire orchestra. She throws in complicated and unexpected chord changes and constantly manipulates the listeners expectations. On the song “Madrid” she employs this tactic by dropping the tone of her voice, and countering it by reaching for higher notes on the guitar.
Her sound is contemplative and calming, at times it is even reminiscent of lullaby music. She is a very unique folk artists in the sense of her wide stylistic range within the genre. Some of her music captures the geometric purity of Medieval classicism, while other times it envelops the classic 1960s Greenwich village folk sound. She has done outstanding Bob Dylan covers, such as “She Belongs to Me” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”. She performs the later on the Charango, a South American lute instrument constructed from the body of an armadillo. Though her shows are technically modest, they radiate with celestial beauty and paralyzing inspiration.