It’s almost exactly a year since I first featured Icelandic singer/songwriter Sóley here on ALL SCANDINAVIAN. Back then it was in a SpaceScan and on the back of six-song debut EP ‘Theater Island’, today her debut full length with the rather despondent title ‘We Sink’, released worldwide at the very beginning of this month.

Who is she?
Well, Sóley Stefánsdóttir obviously, who’s also a member of indie collective Seabear.

How’s the album?
Having written, recorded, produced and played everything (as far as I’ve been able to tell), Sóley excites with a strong collection of alternative pop songs characterized by her sweet, yet dramatic vocal, layered piano parts and subtle beats with dashes of electronics, strings, guitar and “kitchen sink” percussion, making it not entirely unlike Seabear frontman Sindri Már Sigfússon when he’s Sin Fang – only more lo-fi. Sporting ten brand new tracks and three from last year’s ‘Theater Island’ (the EP title track, ‘Kill The Clown’ and the awesome ‘Blue Leaves’ featured in the SpaceScan), ‘We Sink’ is not only a remarkably whole debut. It’s also a surefire contender when time comes for the Best Albums of 2011 list.

Check her out if you like:
Alternative pop as quirky and imaginative as it is fetching and beautiful with a clearly defined female vocal signature.

More Sóley:
On MySpace
On Facebook

Genre: Alternative
Who: Sóley
Album: We Sink
Label: Morr Music
Year: 2011
Country: Iceland
Language: English
DOWNLOAD VIA

Recommended tracks:
I’ll Drown – Pretty Face – Dance – Blue Leaves – The Sun Is Going Down II