Northern soul? How about arctic soul? That's yet to be a thing, but if young Icelandic singer-songwriter Júníus Meyvant has anything to do with it, you'll be hearing a lot more similarly soul-stirring melodies from way up north. Júníus Meyvant -- real name Unnar Gísli Sigurmundsson -- has yet to release his debut, but his sole single, the lushly orchestrated "Color Decay", is already one of the most requested songs at KEXP and a DJ favorite. You'd never know that his session for us, live at Kex Hostel in Reykjavik during Iceland Airwaves, was actually his third ever with a band (though he did play our Reykjavik Calling showcase at Neumos in October by himself and with Cataldo's Eric Anderson). Watch as Júníus Meyvant, backed by nine performers, including two of his own brothers, kindles the hearts and minds of a full room of new admirers and draws the chill from their bones.
It's shoegaze, not navelgaze. Oyama may have a strong My Bloody Valentine-streak, but the Icelandic five-piece have followed up their initial EP with an invigorated their sound on their debut LP, Coolboy, whose woozy, pitch-bending melodies range between airy dream pop and fuzzy psychedelia. We rec…
Sisters Kara and Johanna Söderberg embody the phrase "beyond their years". As Swedish duo First Aid Kit, they've managed to capture generations' worth of American country and folk while still in their teens, and on their reverential 2012 hit "Emmylou" sounded as if they could already hold their own…
The Donkeys are so So-Cal. "There's no getting around it," noted DJ Cheryl Waters, when the band stopped by KEXP this past summer and played songs from their recent album, Born with Stripes. The Donkeys sound brings to mind images of shimmery, hazy days. If you've never surfed San Diego, this is wh…
We are HAM! If you aren't yet, that's okay. HAM is legend. It took years of inactivity to become the rock icons they are today. Following the Icelandic doom metal band's prolific years, from 1988 to 1994, their legion of fans grew, until finally their members stepped aside from their other careers …
