Ásgeir - Leyndarmál

Hi, it has been a while... I want to introduce you to Ásgeir Trausti, before it is too late. The fact that I went to his concert the 3rd December in Belgium, explains his success. Suddenly, one of his songs was used in a Flemish television programme. Then I got a little concerned that he would find himself in a "Of Monsters And Men"-stage, luckily that has not happened - yet. I like people to discover Icelandic music, obviously, otherwise I would not have this blog and share music with you. But I hate it when music gets annoying only by the fact that it is played too much on the radio, you 'rape' the song.

Ásgeir is 21 years old and reached even before he could realize a lot of prices and fame. Dýrð í dauðaþögn (2012) is nominated as "Best Album", "Best Newcomer" and "Fastest Selling Album" in Iceland. His national success was huge. Everybody realized he had potential. Nice to know is that his family is involved in his music, his father writes the songs. You can notice it because the lyrics itself are almost Icelandic poetry. It is not easy to understand this, but it makes it very special. Oh and his brother plays in the band too. John Grant, an American musician who lives in Iceland right now, discovered Ásgeir and helped him translate his songs. So soon they started to translate more songs into English, and the album "In The Silence" was born. You can already find it on iTunes but the official release will be the 27th January 2014. He changed his artist name from Ásgeir Trausti to just "Ásgeir". Because I first knew the Icelandic songs, and I can make sense out of it (I do not understand everything though), I am more fan of the Icelandic version. I just love his Icelandic accent, his high voice and the music altogether is just so fragile. But luckily when I went to see him in Brussels, he sang everything in Icelandic. He introduced a new song and asked "Should I sing it in English or in Icelandic?", the crowd yelled "Icelandic!!" so I am glad I am not the only one who thinks this. Anyway, you can compare Ásgeir to James Blake and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), he is like the perfect match between them. But still he has his very own style and the fact that he sings in Icelandic, makes it even more special than James Blake or Justin. I chose the song Leyndarmál, which means 'secret', and it is my favorite song. The English version is "Kings and Cross". Enjoy it and let me know what you think!