Ólöf Arnalds

Ólöf Arnalds is an Icelandic singer and multi-instrumentalist. Classically educated on the violin, viola and self-taught on guitar and charango, Ólöf’s most distinctive asset is, nonetheless, her voice - instantly captivating and possessed of a magical, otherworldly quality. Favourably compared with the likes of Vashti Bunyan, Judee Sill and Kate Bush, Ólöf’s approach to making music remains highly individual: playful but intimate; accessible and uplifting, yet deeply personal and suffused with a timelessness that goes beyond the puckish inscrutability of her native tongue. Ólöf has quickly proved herself a magnetic, self-assured stage performer, reliant as much on vaudevillian charm and even outright bawdiness, as much as the contrasting delicacy of her song delivery.

Ólöf toured with experimental electronic group Múm for several years before releasing debut album Við og Við in Iceland in 2007. The album featured in eMusic’s Best Albums of 2008 list, being later released in the UK and USA when she signed to One Little Indian in 2009. Sophomore album Innundir Skinni, produced by Kjartan Sveinsson (ex-Sigur Ros) and Davíð Þór Jónsson, was released by One Little Indian in 2010.

In February 2013 Ólöf released ‘Sudden Elevation’. Produced in Reykjavik by herself and Skúli Sverrisson, her third LP is the first to be sung entirely in English. Using crowd-funding pledges to create the album and artwork, the singer embraced new ways of connecting to her audience by offering a number of bespoke rewards and interactions for donators.

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