There’s a lot of music coming out of Iceland right now, we’ve featured some of it in the last few weeks and it’s always good to have Myrkvi back here, a prize-winning duo with a reputation going back almost a decade now and one which reminds us of what guitar bands used to sound like.
Their album will be released on 15th September and is “representative of a conclusion to the duo’s past and the transition into something new; an introspective reflection of their 90s roots, wasted years, and common lunacy” they say. This is the last single from it and it is the album’s title track.
I somehow automatically associate waste and lunacy with 101 Reykjavik, the postcode for the well inhabited bohemian downtown part of the capital, ever since I read Hallgrímur Helgason’s novel of that title a few years back. It’s the source of inspiration to the arty types of Reykjavik and there are quite a few of those. I’m fairly sure that’s where Myrkvi hang out.
Even so I find it hard to picture these two guys as wastrels, let alone lunatics. If they were it would come out in their music but with each track they present themselves as true professionals who have the ability to catch the spirit of the moment.
And that is what the song is about; living for the moment, doing exciting things and having a night out with your mates. Assuming you can afford it of course. Do they buy ‘rounds’ in Iceland? I remember when I used to travel to Iceland a lot in the early 1990s. It was the only place I knew of where you’d be expected to pay for a half pint of beer and a few crisps with a credit card.
The song starts off with what I perceive to be the trademark Myrkvi guitar riff, supporting a soft rock melody with a hint of Britpop about it. Then about half way through it slips into a harder beat and then outros with a full on guitar reverb which helps fully justifiy the comparison they make between themselves and Noel Gallagher.
It’s sure to get frozen limbs moving during the Iceland Airwaves festival later in the year and before then they play a number of dates in Poland and Germany as our many readers from those countries will be delighted to learn:
10.08.23 – Adebar Laboratorium Kultury, Kołobrzeg, Poland
11.08.23 – Soleckie Centrum Kultury, Solec Kujawski, Poland
12.08.23 – Songwriter Łódź Festival, Łódź, Poland
13.08.23 – Złomowisko, Pajęczno, Poland
15.08.23 – Palais Sommer Festival, Dresden, Germany
02.11.23 – Iceland Airwaves Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Any chance of an early warning of some UK gigs?
Find them on:
Website: https://myrkvi.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/myrkvimusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myrkvimusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myrkvimusic/
