From Reykjavik, Iceland, hails this 8-10-piece (apparently it varies) that excels in their very own indie-pop-classic-jazz inspired style of rock. Formed in 2006 Hjaltalín was originally intended to be just one show, but things evolved (as things tend to do) and last year they released their debut, ‘Sleepdrunk Seasons’, with “some extra spice added in March 2008” as they reveal in the cover.

What that extra spice is exactly we don’t know, but it has definitely not ruined the taste of Hjaltalín. I was told recently that the “new thing” for a lot of Icelandic bands is to study composition as a means to move their music in new directions, and this seems to be the case with songwriter-singer-guitarist Högni Egilsson.

The 11 songs on ‘Sleepdrunk Seasons’ all sound composed, or constructed if you like, but where that way of working sometimes has a way of killing music (or at least can make it come across as elitist bulls**t), Hjaltalín manages to walk the fine line and be both incredibly organic and catchy. In other words; they construct great songs.

With the many changes in tempo and mood, the unusually varied instrumentation (bassoon, clarinet, cello, violin etc. on top of a classic rock band), the beautiful vocals of Högni Egilsson and Sigríður Thorlacius and the very wide range of musical references, there’s never a dull moment on ‘Sleepdrunk Seasons’.

Genre: Alternative/Rock
Who: Hjaltalín
Title: Sleepdrunk Seasons
Label: Kimi Records
Year: 2007/2008
Country: Iceland
Language: English/Icelandic
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Recommended tracks:
Traffic Music – Goodbye July/Margt að Ugga – Selur – The Trees Don’t Like The Smoke – I Lie