Further Information

Álög - Spell

Taking the Jump

Ever since a boy, learning to play the guitar, I've been composing songs and writing lyrics, playing and singing. Mostly, I have been playing the guitar on my own, but for a time also with bands and later, I started singing in a choir. Making music is not just a source of pleasure for me, but a vital part of my life. In order to continue creating, I feel one must ultimately take the jump and publish one’s work. Some of my songs have been with me for quite a long time, so now I think it’s high time to release them into the world and find out how they will manage. This is why I am starting this project and asking for your help to get it finished. The goal is recording 10-12 songs, for a CD and a download from the Internet.

Telling Stories in a Song

Since most of my favorite songs have a story to tell it was a given that this would be the focus of this album. The song Farþeginn (The Passenger) is about a taxi driver that picks up a passenger who is Death himself, and in Engill (Angel) we hear of an angel stuck on earth after falling in love with woman. Bráðin (Prey) tells the story of a hunter in search of a prey but gets lost in a storm and the title song Álög (Spell) is about a fairy woman who deeply regrets a spell she casts in anger on her mortal lover, with grave consequences for their son. Other songs are about ghosts, war and refugees. All lyrics are mine except two, Hjá þér and Dauðagil, both written by my friend Böðvar Bjarki Pétursson.
These different stories call for different styles of music for each song and arrangements, therefore the songs have various styles, some are country / folk music, some are jazzy pop songs and other are more classic pop songs. The arrangements range from simple guitar playing up to complicated arrangement with strings, flutes, horns and choir.

Recordings & Musicians

I sing and play acoustic guitar myself in all the songs and have been so lucky as to get some great professional musicians to accompany me. The recordings take place in Studio Paradís in Reykjavik and the recording engineer is Jóhann Ásmundsson, member of the band Mezzoforte. He plays the bass in these songs and also keyboard and electric guitar and helps me with the arrangement of the songs. His son Ásmundur Jóhannsson plays drums and percussion as well as assisting his father in the recording studio.

Sara Blandon sings in the songs Norðurljósin, Álög, Apollonia, and Hjá mér. My cousins Jón Guðmundsson and Stefán Jón Bernharðsson play the flute and horn and my friend Örnólfur Kristjánsson plays the cello. In the song Dauðagil, my choir companions from The Church Choir of Laugarneskirkja sing backing vocals and soprano Elma Atladóttir adds a very special color to the song. Swedish Jonas Wall, who has been playing with Mezzoforte recently, plays saxophone and clarinet in two songs and the talented musician Óskar Einarsson plays on piano in two of the songs.

The Project’s Status

The recordings are almost finished in Studio Paradis and Jóhann Ásmundsson is about to finalize the songs. There is still some work to do in the studio, mixing and mastering of the songs and finally, the production of the CD, album cover and booklet with the lyrics. Mags Nisbet-Macfarlane, Scottish artist and folk musician is making drawings inspired by the lyrics and when these are ready, she will design the layout of the cover and booklet. A sample of her work can be seen in the audio above.