It’s not very often that you’re immediately drawn into an albums universe, but that was what Gestir managed to do to me with their 2006 debut, ‘Burtur Frá Toftunum’ (Away From The Ruins). With references to the likes of Jeff Buckley and Radiohead and the amazing talent of singer Ólavur Jákupsson, the Faroese quintet embarks on an impressive musical attack on every melancholic bone in your body, with total surrender your only option.

Formed in 2002 Gestir went straight on to win the bi-annual music contest, Prix Føroyar, in 2003 but it took another three years for them to complete this debut album, recorded at Lundgaard Studios in Vejen, Denmark, and Vestry Hall Studios, London, and produced by Jens L. Thomsen (Høgni Lisberg, Knút Háberg Eysturstein etc.) and Gestir.

Half of the 12 songs that make up ‘Butur Frá Toftunum’ feature string arrangements performed by London based quartet Dirty Pretty Strings, among them beautifully ominous ‘Sum Urt’. Other highlights count ‘I Skuggum Av Sólini’ and ‘Ótti’ that pry open the gates to the darker regions of your soul, ‘Døgg’ that is Getir’s ‘Eleanor Rigby’, and one of the more up-tempo songs on the album, ‘ Úr Undirgrundini’.

With ‘Burtur Frá Toftunum’ Ólavur Jákupsson (vocals, guitars, synths, piano), Torfinnur Jákupsson (guitars, piano, lyrics), Jógvan Andreas á Brúnni (drums), Niels Jákup í Jógvanstovu (bass) and Knút Háberg Eysturstein (synths, hammond, piano, rhodes) have created a brilliant first effort and I for one am waiting impatiently for a follow-up.

Genre: Rock
Who: Gestir
Title: Burtur Frá Toftunum
Label: Tutl
Year: 2006
Country: Faroe Islands
Language: Faroese
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Recommended tracks:
Hvørt Fótafet – Sum Urt – Úr Undirgrundini – I Skuggum Av Sólini – Ótti – Døgg