Mondays in Iceland - #100

No subject could be more appropriate for the capstone of FITK’s Mondays in Iceland:

Jófríður Ákadóttir


Reykjavík Grapevine

Most great artists share these common traits: early promise, hard work, and continued growth. Jófríður Ákadóttir, with her twin sister Ásthildur, formed the Folk/Pop duo Pascal Pinon in 2009 (they were 14 years old!) A short set I caught at an Iceland Airwaves off-venue show in the Norræna Húsið that year showed the early promise of her talent: almost everyone in the room was stunned by the integrity of the songs composed by this unassuming teen. Jófríður and I communicated with each other on a few occasions back then; her level-headed approach to her career was already evident. Unfortunately, Ásthildur—who did most of the production and accompaniment on the Sundur CD—has recently been suffering from depression. Jófríður, in recent interviews, has intimated that as a group, Pascal Pinon is probably finished. While this news is disheartening, Jófríður is continuing her career: a new album by the electronica group Samaris was recently released,  she is also member of the “supergroup” Gangly. Now she has a solo act—JFDR—with an album coming out in 2017:



She was recently featured in an in-depth interview in The Reykjavík Grapevine, an article that is an excellent chronology of her career. It shows her hard work, both in performance and composition, as well as her relentless drive to explore the world. It’s as if she can’t get enough of life and all it has to offer. I have never been much of a musical prognosticator, but Jófríður’s continued growth in all of her musical projects has exceeded my wildest dreams. She’s all grown up now and has made the transition from child to adult on her own terms. What I’ve heard of her new material (in live tracks) features loopy arrangements layered with reverb, but I’ll reserve any judgement until the upcoming CD comes out. Time will tell if this old dog can warm up to her new kind of musical tricks.

Below is a live performance of JFDR doing some new material (not from the album) for Seattle radio station KEXP, interspersed with interviews from the great Kevin Cole:



And an interview on Portuguese TV:




NOTE: This is the final installment of “Monday in Iceland.” My thanks to all who viewed these posts and images over the last seven years. I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I enjoyed the making of them.