Ásgeir is the latest sensation to come whistling over the ocean from Iceland. Barely out of his teens, he managed to break records with his debut album Dýrð í dauðaþögn, an English version of which, titled In The Silence with lyrics translated by John Grant, will be released in the rest of Europe next month. That album became the highest selling debut in Iceland by a home-grown artist ever.
Ásgeir floats along the heartfelt, deep folk also peddled by his contemporaries Jonsi, Sin Fang and Soley, veering slightly away from the oddness that typifies much Icelandic contemporary music, into a more palatable and commercial melodic feel. There's a dash of Jose Gonzales in Torrent, for example. This short, slightly detached set warms up the church for Agnes Obel.
It seems like those who have previously heard the Danish pianist have been waiting for the rest of the world to recognise her value. Obel creates uncommonly beautiful, deftly majestic music, built on her spare, elegant piano lines and voice. Other Voices seems specially built for artists such as Obel; artful, thoughtful and quietly majestic, and she delivers a set that is full of charm and guile.
Pizzicatos on the violin, the low boom of a sample and the drama of the cello add strength and lithe muscle to the music. She also borrows a few scarves from the crowd to dampen the piano's strings for Aventine. You could hear a pin drop in the crowd that Obel has in the palm of her hand. It's a beautiful set in a weekend of gorgeously rich music.
Samantha Crain’s charms are more rootsy and rustic, but there’s no doubting their resilience. The singer/songwriter from Shawnee, Oklahoma was a late addition to the bill, and a lovely bit of added value for a crowd grown fat on the weekend’s musical riches. This is intriguing, rugged music, well seasoned and well travelled, with a melancholy heart and a wry disposition.
One of the curveballs of Other Voices 2013 was the inclusion of film composer David Arnold, who is best known for scoring Bond films (The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace), as well as being the musical director for the 2012 Olympic Games. He modestly took to the grand piano on the altar to play three songs, and thanked the audience for indulging him, as he generally doesn't get the chance to perform work he has written for others. It was a rather charming turn by the artist, and a unique opportunity for the audience.
And then, the colossus. John Grant was introduced by Philip King as one of the greatest artists in the world, and it's hard to argue otherwise. He makes the bitter beautiful, the caustic caring, the angry epic. Glacier practically implodes with beauty. It Doesn't Matter To Him is heart-wrenching. As Grant, accompanied by a fellow pianist and synth player, moves from piano stool to mic, it just gets better and better. He empties his full heart into the church, giving thanks to the Other Voices crew, whom he says he'd be happy to just hang out with in the foetal position if they asked him to come and not play at all. But play he did, and it was a stunning performance, the highlight of the weekend. As he took a final bow, many in the church were in tears.
