The former member of Icelandic group GusGus, the frontman of indie folkers Hjaltalín, composer and singer Högni will visit us in April with his solo debut. On it, the newest addition to the Erased Tapes roster faced down the conflicting aspects of his personality, with his intriguing art pop drawing comparisons to Björk, ANOHNI, Perfume Genius and Four Tet. We’ll warm up with the intriguingly fluid combination of electric harp and field recordings, courtesy of II/III.
In his native Iceland, Högni Egilsson is one of the best known contemporary musicians, whose exceptional talent has endeared him to both music aficionados and more commercially inclined listeners. After learning various instruments, jazz improvisation and composition in his youth, he gained wider recognition as the frontman of indie rock band Hjaltalín, which was named the Album of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2009. Soon after, he joined the already acclaimed electronic group GusGus, which had us dancing our heels of last year.
Bolstered by Högni’s sensuous vocals and a refined feeling for harmonious compositions, GusGus attained new heights and recorded what many believe to be their best albums to date, Arabian Horse and Mexico. After leaving the group in 2016, Högni successfully dealt with personal psychological issues, channelling the experience into his solo debut Two Trains, “a triumph of both style and substance” (Loud and Quiet), release in October via Erased Tapes, the home of artists such as Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds and Peter Broderick. On the album, Högni envelops the gentle beauty of his voice with a mesh of elegiac melancholy and colourful electronic textures – just the thing to brighten up the grey April skies.
II/III (Two Out Of Three) is an experimental music project by producer Tine Vrabič (Nitz) and harpist Urška Preis (rouge-ah), in which they fluidly combine the electric harp with field recordings, intertwine ambient sounds with experimental ones, and gradually blend minimalist 4/4 rhythms into calmer introductions. Tine has been developing his feeling for composing through many years of his own production, solo live acts and deejaying, while Urška contributes years of classical music education, orchestral, chamber and solo projects, and performances.
Organisation: Kino Šiška.
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