Hjaltalin - Sleepdrunk Seasons

(Pronounced “Yaltaleen”)Hjaltalín are Iceland’s newest about-to-be export. Having been nominated for five of March 2008's Icelandic Music Awards they went on to win Best Songwriter - Högni Egilsson -  and The Brightest Hope. They have been nominated for next year's Time for Peace Music and Film Awards for the song 'The Trees Don't Like the Smoke'. Their debut album 'Sleepdrunk Seasons', released to great acclaim in Iceland last December, was produced by Benni Hemm Hemm and Gunni Tynes of múm. The album is due for imminent  Scandinavian-wide release and will hit the UK and the rest of Europe in November. The release will be followed by a Europe-wide tour, including the UK in January. Hjaltalín currently have a new song, ‘Thu komst vid hjartad í mér’, now topping the charts in Iceland. It’s a cover of a song by Iceland Disco singer Paul Oscar and translates as ‘You Touched My Heart’. In Iceland Hjaltalín have played with artist such Jens Lekman, Akron/Family, Danielson, Annuals and Bloc Party; the last two at last years' Iceland Airwaves festival at the same venue on the same evening. They have only played outside of Iceland  a handful of times.
Hjaltalín are from Reykjavik, a band  as promising as any of the other beautiful and eclectic artists the country has thrown up. With eight members, it’s difficult to know  whether to call them a small orchestra, a mutated and overgrown rock band or something else entirely. Besides the regular guitar, bass and drums, the band also comprises piano, accordion, bassoon, clarinet, cello and a violin, complimenting the exquisite lilt of Högni and Sigga's vocals. This unique group of instrumentalists form an allegiance which already has a very solid fan base amongst both critics and the public on home ground. The UK lies in wait and will surely be theirs in due course...
Line-up: Axel Haraldsson – Drums  Ingimar Andersen – Clarinett Gudmundur óskar Gudmundssson – Bass Hjörtur Ingvi Jóhansson – Piano Högni Egilsson - Singer/Guitar Rebekka Bryndís Björnsdóttir – Bassoon Sigrídur Thorlacius – Singer Viktor Orri Arnason - Violin
 “Euphoric chamber pop” – NME “Hjaltalín purvey melodic indie rock with a conspicuous bassoon, cello, three part brass section and usual rhythm section allowing them to alternate between full bloodied rock basslines and the soaring appeal of Sufjan Steven's heraldic approach. Epic promise.” - Clash Magazine  “What makes Hjaltalin ooze with potential, and more importantly, sound nothing like any of their revered countrymen at all is their unflinching knack at being able to craft both winsome pop tunes alongside audaciously experimental arrangements with seemingly effortless ease.” – Drowned in Sound “The pop melodies have a breadth of emotion and the sound is deep enough to provide aural pleasure” – Subba Cultcha

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