We've covered a lot of ground today, but we'll finish off with a rare and privileged treat - an almost exclusive first play of a new track by one of our favourite artists, Svavar Knútur. Hopefully you'll all remember Svavar from our previous features, but he's an Icelandic songwriter who's released streams of lovely material, including his 2015 album 'Brot' and the more recent 'Ahoy! Side A' . He's also just started an epic European tour, which is mostly in Germany (and sadly doesn't include UK) full details of which can be found on his website.
A lovely feature of Svavar's songwriting is the way he explores the relationship between nature and human life, and 'Junuar' is a perfect example. It's actually a 'hymn of praise' for the unappreciated month of January, the time when light returns and hope is gradually restored. The song is in Icelandic but the verses include some beautiful lines, which when translated to English can be broadly written as ''Behind the scenes old January strives / Like a roadie after the show or a garbageman on his Monday morning shift. ' And my favourite line of all, where he sings his farewell to the month ''Until duty calls him forth once more, like a snow-covered Batman''. I seriously think this is the 1st time that the month of January has been compared to a superhero, but I love the concept - why should it not be celebrated.
Musically too this is a delightful track, a full blown Indie Pop track with rich, intense instrumental support, full blooded guitars, but still retaining the distinct melodic charm that we normally find in his songwriting. Take a listen to 'Januar' here:
Don't forget that mammoth European tour, full details of which can be found on his website here: