Samaris are flag-bearers for the Generation Y of Icelandic music; a trio of teenagers who borrow freely from the past but are very much in tune with the modern age.
The band name was chosen randomly, a reference to The Phantom comic strip character Queen Samaris created in the 1930s. Their lyrics are adapted from 19th century poems, re-imagining the classics of Icelandic literature. The sound is a mixture of classical, pop, ambient and electronica.
This variant of what American academic Henry Jenkins, writing about fan fiction, once referred to as 'textual poaching' seems to me to be useful way of understanding how their music, and musical genres in general, has evolved.
The post-millennial trend , exemplified by Samaris, is towards an amalgamations of difference styles to create hybrid genres. I'm thinking in particular of metalcore, dubstep and free-folk but you can also hear in the way that rebellious messages of punk or hip-hop are appropriated (and often neutralised) within mainstream pop culture.
I am not suggesting that the members of Samaris are doing this consciously. I think to them it will merely be second nature. After all, they will have grown up exposed not only to the musical tastes of their parents and peers, but also will have benefited from the unprecedented access to online streamable resources from different eras and countries.
This huge range of influences go into one big melting pot and what emerges can either be an indigestible stew or, in the case of this album, something fresh and enticing.
Jófriður Ákadóttir (vocals) and Áslaug Rún Magnúsdóttir (clarinet) are two young women who decided that the classical music they were being schooled to appreciate was too limited and were more attracted to electronic pop and techno. Not being experts in digital beats they recruited another school friend Þórôur Kári Steinþórsson (nicknamed Doddi) .
His computer programming skills provide the backbone of their sound and the end result is a beguiling mixture of chilled trip-hop and dreamy electronica.
The feminine touch humanises the sound through the subtle tones of the clarinet and the breathy intimacy in the vocals. The latter is a sensual quality that you also find in Björk and Ólöf Arnalds even when they are singing in English. The words Ákadóttir sing are all in Icelandic but the language barrier only enhances the magic and mystery.
A full album from the band is planned for Autumn 2013 but, in the meantime, One Little Indian highlight the trio's huge international potential by bringing together two four track EPs together with four remixes. The first of these EP was funded by winnings from Músíktilraunir , a kind of Icelandic battle of the bands competition.
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While the EPs blend together seamlessly, the same cannot be said of the remixes. The spaciousness of the band's sound offers an inviting opportunity for diverse interpretations but the heavy-handed version of Vitu Vitrast by Futuregrapher shows how, even then, things can go awry. He adds crude disco rhythms and soulless drum beats that spoil the delicate balance of the original.
The point at 2 minutes 17 seconds of the opening track Hjóma Flú was enough to convince me that this record was going to be something special.
This is the moment when, after a drifting intro, Doddi's dreamy beats synchronise perfectly with the hushed voice and sweet clarinet playing. The well-named 'Muted Remix' to this song is the best of the alternative versions.
The single Góða Tungi (Good Moon), will probably be the track most listeners will hear first, a good introduction too, as it perfect encapsulates the warmth and grace of their music. The ethereal aspects of this song are also emphasised by the surreal choreography in the accompanying video (see below) directed by Thora Hilmarsdottir. Again the remix, by DJ Arfi, is a poor substitute for the real thing.
In the song titles, 'dub' from Vöggu Dub, is the only word that will mean anything to English speakers but this is a significant one as it identifies the strong emphasis on floating dub-bass beats that underpin the tunes, particularly on tunes from the second EP like Sólhvörf (Solstice) ,parts one and two, and Kælan Mikla.
The music produced by Icelandic artists has long been of a consistently high standard and Samaris illustrate that the past is now part of the future.
Bring it on.
Samaris' website
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