Born in 1992, Ásgeir Trausti grew up in a hamlet called Laugarbakki, 200km North of Reykjavík, Iceland – population 40. He has out sold Björk and Sigur Rós with an incredible 1 in 10 people owning his album in that country – the Icelandic title is, Dýrð í dauðaþögn – say that before breakfast.
His first English album is actually his first Icelandic album (Glory In That Silence) translated into English by hipster John Grant. Interestingly Ásgeir didn’t write the lyrics on the album, 3 songs were written by his friend Julius Róbertsson who performs with him and sings lovely harmonies, the rest of the album’s lyrics are written by Ásgeir’s 72 year old father. Ásgeir was born with a beautiful voice that sounds like a mixture of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) Jeff Buckley and Antony Hegarty (Antony And The Johnsons) and it’s this quality that has attracted so much attention.
The album was produced by Gudmundur Kristinn Jonsson and has electronic and organic elements, only the vocal has been changed for the English language version. Although the English album is a captivating piece of work, hearing him sing in Icelandic is equally inspiring adding a magical and mysterious touch. Make sure you listen to his acoustic versions Live on KEXP in Seattle, pre the English album’s release.
http://indeepmusicarchive.net/2014/02/1214-asgeir-live-kexp-2013-torrent-2014/
Ásgeir sounds like soft snowflakes falling – mellifluous magic to keep you warm on cold winter nights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ásgeir_Trausti
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Silence
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