I’m a little curious about Icelandic artist Bony Man, simply because we seem to have so little information on where he’s come from, or what he’s been up to previously. Obviously he’s not ‘Bony’ by name, as actually it’s the moniker for Reykjavik based songwriter Guðlaugur Jón Árnason, and he’s just released his debut single entitled ‘Unforgiven’.
Alongside it is a well produced music video, and apparently an album is on the way too. He clearly means business.
Bony Man has such an incredible, distinct voice that I find it difficult to believe he hasn’t been involved in numerous musical projects previously, although my attempts to search both musician and moniker have been fruitless. Other than lots of partially naked images of very bony men (thanks for that...) and information on Wolves defender Wilfried Bony, I couldn't find anything at all.
But I suspect he’s pretty well known amongst Icelandic musicians, and that it won’t take long for him to make an impression. ‘Unforgiven’ was recorded at Arnar Guðjónsson’s Aeronaut Studios in Reykjavik, which is at least partially responsible for recordings from the likes of Biggi Hilmars and Bang Gang, whilst the video produced by Samuel & Gunnar (SKOT productions).
‘Unforgiven’ is written in the timeless singer songwriter style, and it's really stripped back instrumentally, with just very gentle acoustic guitar and beautifully expressed violin and that allows those vocals to take centre stage. Melodically it opens up attractively in the chorus, and the lyrical content is thoughtful too, helped of course by the fact I can actually hear the words: ‘‘Tied to the concrete I looked to the sky/ water falling down, I guess you were right about me after all’’.
Where has Bony Man been? I have no idea, but I’m certain we’ll be hearing a lot more about him.