Hjaltalín by Hjaltalín

The songs on Hjaltalín's fourth album have gone through so many versions, arrangements and mixes that they can be likened to small sculptures, slowly molded over the years. Each and everyone is a small world unto itself, rich with detail, but they come together nicely like statues in a garden. The best of the batch sound like they've been around for ages; they are weathered – classic.

It also feels like a culmination of all that has come before. The grandeur and wide-eyed optimism of Terminal is apparent in a number of songs while the groovy gloom of Enter 4 is strong in others. It may also contain Hjaltalín's poppiest moments. Where Terminal sometimes felt like a pastiche of pop, the new record is earnest throughout, resulting in carefree moments like "Love from 99," the airy pizzicato chorus of "Waterfall" and full blown lighters-in-the-air moments like "Needles and Pins". Still, the dark modular experiments closing out "Stolen Star" or the opaque lyrics of "Mad Lady of Lizard Skin" feel no less honest; they, too, are testaments to curious minds.

This wide scope in tone is surely the result of a very long gestation period: seven years. Seven years that have seen dozens of songs drafted only to be chucked into the bin, countless mood swings and confrontations, many children born to the band. Saying it was a hard record to make is a gross understatement.

Luckily for the listener, all the long nights, hard work and heated discussions have paid off.
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When you boil it down, Hjaltalín is essentially a group of talented friends. They were high-school students when they started playing together; today they are professional composers, producers, songwriters, performers, players (and a pilot!) who have made the band their labour of love for nearly fifteen years.

They drew attention very early on with their catchy multi-part chamber pop compositions and became a huge crossover success locally with the 2007 release of their debut album Sleepdrunk Seasons.

Still, Hjaltalín’s second album Terminal (2009) proved a much bigger hit, winning ‘album of the year’ at the Icelandic Music Awards, selling over 10,000 copies domestically, and its five singles spending a combined 44 weeks on the National Radio’s Top 20.

Over the next couple of years, while the band struggled to deal with the newly diagnosed bipolar disorder of frontman Högni Egilsson, the group recorded Enter 4 (2012) – a tense exploration on art, madness and friendship. It is a sparer and darker album and marks the height of Hjaltalín's critical acclaim.

So far.

When you boil it down, Hjaltalín is essentially a group of talented friends. They were high-school students when they started playing together; today they are professional composers, producers, songwriters, performers, players (and a pilot!) who have made the band their labour of love for nearly fifteen years.

hjaltalinmusic.com
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