“The Wave” by Árstíðir
“The Wave” is a song that glorifies the virtue of the self. It narrates the saga of how one can surmount the trials and tribulations that life presents to them. It reveals how one can ascend high above the skepticism and disparagement of others. The song manifests how one can exhibit their aptitudes and abilities to the world. It depicts how one can emerge from the ruins, each time more tenacious and resolute. Like a wave.
The song fuses contemporary pop with conventional elements, mirroring the culture, nature, and ambiance of these extraordinary places. It is the warm and melodious voices, the delicate musical structures, the electronic soundscapes, interwoven with real instruments, that envelop us in solace and transport us to the world and culture of Iceland.
Contemporary Pop meets Folk or Árstíðir are back with their new and impressive single “The Wave”. What was your inspiration for the song, and what’s the story behind it?
The Wave is a shift in consciousness. After 8 albums, 13 years of international touring and receiving so many amazing experiences of kindness and love from our listeners, we are asking ourselves what we can give back.
We know from experience that our most devoted fans take a lot of strength and comfort from our music. Some people have told us that our music saved their lives at their most pivotal times, and this is the most humbling thing we as musicians – and fellow humans – can imagine!
It gives our music purpose. And it gives us purpose as musicians. The Wave is an anthem to this. The Wave is not just a song, it is a message of courage. Our gift to the world.
The track is also the last single from the upcoming album “BLIK”. What can your fans and our readers expect from it?
BLIK, like every album that we've made before, is an evolution of our band. We never make the same album twice. Each album represents a new evolution of our sound. So for BLIK we set out with a different palette of instruments in order to invent something that would make this album sound unique from all our other albums, whilst always maintaining the core elements of the Árstíðir DNA which is our vocal harmonies and strings.
Did you select from a pool of tracks, or did you have a concrete number that you worked on from the beginning?
We composed a total of 30+ tracks for BLIK and recorded demos of all of them together with our producer Sakaris Emil Joensen. When the demos were finished we asked our colleagues in the Icelandic music business, as well as some of our most devoted fans, to listen to them and vote for their favourite songs. The songs that you hear on BLIK are the ones that this panel of collagues and fans thought were the best ones.
How do you choose the sounds that match the emotion you want to convey whenever you are working on a song
Arranging a song is always a trial and error kind of process. After we write the songs we spend a lot of time in the studio experimenting with different sounds and approaches. Sometimes we'll make several demos of one song until we think we have it. In the end the music will tell us what it needs.
You are always open for experiments and collaborations. What would be your dream collab if you had the chance to choose?
Billie Eilish, if you're reading this. Please email us and we'll cook up something amazing together!
A new album means a tour (sometimes at least). Is there any chance to see you somewhere live on stage?
Yes! We will be going on a three week release tour in Europe in November, and a follow up tour in the spring. See the dates below!
If you could pick a special location for a gig, where would you like to play?
We just came back from Greenland last week where we performed on top of a ship, in one of the largest fjords in the world (Prins Christians Sund) in front of a glacier. This setting is hard to beat, so we guess that we would pick this location again if we had the choice!
Our music always resonates different in different locations, so through the years we have made a point to sing and play in as many different places as possible. Ten years ago we sang a song in a train station hall in Germany. The live recording went viral and to date 8 million people have watched it on youtube.
But we honestly feel that we've never sounded better than we did next to that glacier in Greenland last week!
Do you still remember the first song you ever wrote?
Yes, and its the first song on our first album. It is called Ages.
What do you have planned for the near future?
The next twelve months we'll be focused on promiting the new album. We already have two release tours planned for BLIK in different territories, and we are still working on adding at third one for 2024. See you all on the road!
Live
präsentiert von Kulturnews
13.11. Oberhausen - Zentrum Altenberg
14.11. (LUX) Dudelange - Centre Culturel Régional Opderschmelz
15.11. Köln - Kulturkirche
16.11. Hamburg - Christianskirche
17.11. Berlin - Prachtwerk
20.11. Dresden - Filmtheater Schauburg
23.11.(AT) Wien - Theater am Spittelberg
24.11.(CH) Rorschach - Industrie36
25.11. Frankfurt - Brotfabrik
26.11. Neunkirchen - Gebläsehalle Neunkirchen
