Hall, Dibben, Ingólfsson & Mitchell/Sounds Icelandic, 1. Introduction

Over the past 25 years, Icelandic music has been gaining considerable international attention. This is attested to by the international success of such acts as the Sugarcubes, and then Björk as a solo artist, followed by the worldwide success of Sigur Rós, and more recently Of Monsters and Men. And these artists reveal themselves to be ‘the tip of the iceberg’, once one delves further into the music of Iceland and the myriad of genres that are thrive there. That such a small country can produce so much music of quality, value and acclaim is a fascinating situation that has boosted Icelandic tourism and made the country the ‘hippest’ place in the world. This is a book of wide-ranging essays on different aspects of Icelandic music, from the ancient traditional chants of rímur to the large output of classical music by nationalist composer Jón Leifs and others, to the plethora of Icelandic rock and pop groups that have already made an impact on the world as well as more idiosyncratic and genre-bending musicians now emerging from the Reykjavik music scene.