Yesterday we wrote about John Grant, and his inclusion in Nordic Music Review on the basis that whilst he may not be strictly Nordic born, he’s very much adopted Iceland as his home. And whilst Denique may be originally from Canada, his approach to writing and filming incorporates the beauty of Icelandic landscapes so powerfully, that we wanted to write about him too – he even looks slightly Scandanavian, aside from the pink tuxedo.
Deniques work has naturally evolved from hiking in Iceland armed with his tripod, his videos are key to his artistry, and are as important as the music itself. I loved the images from the Swedish project Valsaland, who have done something similar, and even if the musical output is different, I love the way both projects regard the visual art and music as being so integral to each other. Anyway the best thing to do is look at one of his videos, this is Vegvísir, which was filmed across different parts of Iceland, and is based on the theme of dedication to those who've experienced life's ‘harshest weathers’:
I really think this has real genuine originality to it, and the combination of Denique's unusual but striking vocals, and the stunning Icelandic landscape works really well. Denique has no intention of recording albums at this stage, but instead will continue to make individual music videos as a chronological timeline of various stages in his life. And with all the videos edited and directed himself, I’m sure the quality and innovation will continue to develop too.
Anyway also a previous video to a track he released in May called ‘Squaloon’, which we’ve included below for you to have a look at too.
We will try and keep an eye out for what he has plans for next, but please have a look at his website
as that will give you the chance to look at his videos in the correct timeline order, and visit his Facebook page too if you like what you see and hear: