The sixth edition of SpaceScan in 2009 featured the Icelandic quintet Rökkurró, who excited us with their haunting alternative folk where heavy melancholy goes hand in hand with a light pop sensation. Being curious we wanted to know more, so we’ve had guitarist Árni Þór Árnason give us the inside story on Rökkurró.

Who?
“… are we? We are three guys (Árni, Björn and Axel) and two girls (Hildur and Ingibjörg) ranging from 19 to 21 years old. All live in Iceland’s capital Reykjavík and have been making music together for almost three years now. We’ve made one LP, ‘Það kólnar í kvöld…’ and one self-titled EP. We love good music, good art, dimly lit rooms and Nutella.”

Where?
“… will we be next? On tour from March 15 to April 2. We have gigs in Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Denmark. Come and check out our show! You can find more info on MySpace.”

What?
“… does our name mean? Rökkurró is a combination of two Icelandic words. “Rökkur” which means twilight/when the sun is going down, and “ró” meaning quiet or calm. We tried to imagine some kind of cinematic mood to fit our music and thought this sounded perfect. The title of our first album, ‘Það kólnar í kvöld…’, means “It gets colder tonight” or more lyrically translated “There’s a chill in the air tonight”.”

Why?
“… are we doing what we’re doing? Because we can’t not play music. It’s impossible. We’re doing what we think is the most fun in the world and trying to reach enough people so that we can do this and nothing else.”

Find out more and listen to Rökkurró on MySpace.