You don't have to visit Iceland to know that its landscape is incredible, and when it comes to their homegrown music, every act we take a liking to seems to weave that majestic scenery into their music. From the snow-peaked mountains surrounded by freshwater lakes, active volcanoes, or their famous geysers, there's always a sense of raw beauty in some of their exported music. Of course, geography does not always play into the sounds musical acts choose to make, but when it comes to Vök's, it's hard not to imagine yourself donned in a plaid shirt and beanie listening to it while huddled around a fire on a rock-laden beach (or something). To get this aforementioned earthly sound, the Icelandic trio sticks to a more downtempo approach by using mostly melancholic sounds to create a spacey, atmospheric feeling that is utterly poignant. The Icelandic-sung and sometimes English-spoken vocals are headed up by Margret Ran Magnusdóttir whose timbre is superbly elegant, yet still rough enough around the edges to leave a kind of authenticity and rawness we would expect and want to hear with folksy sounding music. Today, we lucky listeners get to hear the release of their debut EP, Tension, and with it, five tracks that are sure to captivate. We've already shared the title track, "Before", and "Vio Vokum", and now, we're sharing the equally great "A ný" and "Ég bíð þín"—all which can be streamed below. Tension is available on iTunes now.
Vök