We want to keep up the momentum on Album Reviews (we did slightly less last week), even if it means keeping them short, and if truth be told 'dj. flugvél og geimskip' is the type of artist that is so difficult to define and write about, it's probably all best if you just go and take a listen for yourself anyway. But we will try to explain some background.
So 'dj. flugvél og geimskip' can only be described as an 'experimental electronic' musician, she's from Iceland but has gained some attention across the world with appearances at everywhere from 'SXSW' to 'Sonar Reykjavik' and even the excellent 'The Great Escape' festival. Her new album 'Our Atlantis' considers the fabled city underneath the ocean, but in the context of each person's choice to decide how they perceive their own world view - so who knows if a place called 'Atlantis' exist, and only you can decide what you believe. I like this world perspective, even if it obviously doesn't quite explain Brexit madness and Donald Trump - or maybe it explains everything...
Anyway.... just take a listen to 'Our Atlantis', because whilst it appears a curiosity at first listen, there is an unusual brilliance to it all too. 'The Sphinx' which opens is a pretty good example, fusing electronic sounds (that remind me a little of 'Frisk Frugt') with a melody with apparent Middle East / Asian influences, and then launching off with a vocal tune that almost has a childlike simplicity to it. 'Having Fun At Home' is even more 'way out there', whilst in 'Allt er bara bull' the vocals disappear in so many different directions, I can honestly say that I'ne never heard anything like it. I like darker tracks such as 'Can We Stop The Time', maybe they're more straight forward vocally, whilst the highlight for me is the extraordinary 'Let Go', with the explosion of beats and sounds just after 2 minutes being a real moment of genius.
This has grown on me considerably. At times it's still slightly confusing and somewhat of an oddity, but there's such an amazing fusion of sounds, melodies and rhythms - with a mix of influences melodically from across the world, and from folk to children's nursery rhymes too. There are moments of brilliance, interspersed with electronic complexity and vocals which are inspired and slightly unworldly. I'm not claiming that everyone will love this, because like Atlantis, everyone will have their own perspective on 'dj. flugvél og geimski', but 'Our Atlantis' is indisputably fascinating, original and mesmerizing.
Nordic Music Review 7.5/10