Earlier in the year, the mighty Ásgeir returned with brand new single “Unbound“, taken from his highly anticipated second album Afterglow, out May 5 on Pod via Inertia / Rhythmethod. Today, the trailblazing singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has shared a brand new video for the incredible lead single, one that deals in an unknown virtual reality world, where the subjects are able to express their deepest and darkest desires through a futuristic virtual reality lens. The video explores their intertwining virtual lives, the perfect interplay between the lyric “nothing holds me back now” and a virtual world that is yet to exist.
Watch “Unbound” here:
“A beautiful thing” – Uncut, 8/10
“What I hear in this song is a shift from guitar-based music toward laptop electronics, something like the shift Bon Iver made and that James Blake has been pioneering – that mix of the intimate with the machine.” – NPR
“Evocative” – Mojo, ????
The follow up to his acclaimed debut album In The Silence, Afterglow is greatly anticipated by Ásgeir’s fans worldwide. The Icelandic artist has spent three years honing and perfecting the eleven tracks that make up this magnificent and affecting body of work. Unplanned track “Unbound” is a glittering menagerie of chirping electronic melodies and stop-start beats that came about in a last minute studio session. A stunning, yearning piece of music, “Unbound” is surely a career-defining moment for the musician.
Afterglow has all the hallmarks of a confident artist who’s now at home with his status as one of music’s most exciting new voices. “I consider myself lucky to have been able to go around the world with my friends to play,” Ásgeir says, “before touring I had only been to Sweden and Denmark. Now I don’t even remember where I have been or where I have not been.” That globe-trotting wisdom is keenly felt on Afterglow, which ambitiously balances the icy electronic shades of Bon Iver, James Blake and Anohni with soul, R&B and even gospel influences from many different eras and places.
The album leaves behind the folk-tinged acoustics of 2014 debut album In The Silence and dives into melancholic electronica in its purest form. The spell-binding artist has also once again collaborated with producer Guðmundur Kristinn Jónsson and his father – renowned poet Einar Georg Einarsson – for Afterglow, who is credited with writing the lyrics for the album alongside long-time musical collaborators, Ásgeir’s brother Thorsteinn and Julius Robertsson.
Talking about Afterglow, Ásgeir said: “I feel like I have achieved plenty already with this album, gotten to know myself better, feel like I’ve grown a lot. Not just because of the album, but it has definitely helped.”
Winner of the 2012 Album of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards, In The Silence sold so many copies that it is estimated one tenth of the population now owns that release. BBC Radio 2 host, Dermot O’Leary, once tested this theory out, calling a random number in the Icelandic phone book – the woman who answered not only owned a copy, but Ásgeir’s mother had taught her son at school. The ubiquity of the album (entitled Dýrð í dauðaþögn in Icelandic) also caught the attention of musician John Grant, who immediately recognised Ásgeir’s musical talent and ended up translating the lyrics into English for the international version of the album.
The introverted and humble artist couldn’t have predicted the immensity of his success off the back of In The Silence – coming from the Icelandic town of Laugarbakki, populated by just 40 people. The same year, Ásgeir sold out two shows at Sydney Opera House, one at Shepard’s Bush Empire and played a mesmerising show at London’s Union Chapel, which sold out months in advance. The album became the fastest selling debut from a home grown artist in Iceland, breaking all previous records and outselling Björk and Sigur Rós by a long way. At just 20 years of age, Ásgeir became an overnight sensation.
Links:
http://asgeirmusic.com
http://facebook.com/asgeirmusic
http://twitter.com/asgeirMusic
http://instagram.com/asgeirmusic
#Afterglow
