It must have something to do with all those geysers in Iceland. I don’t know what else it could be that makes the modern music coming from that island far into European North be so, at the same time so dream-like, off the kilter and at the same time listenable and enjoyable. Bjork, Sigur Ros, and Soley Stefansdottir, or Soley for us music fans. And that’s where similarities more or less end. Because each of those artists has its own voice that they express in their music.
Now Soley is not exactly a newbie Endless Summer is her third album (along with two EP’s), with both her previous ones being both musically and lyrically striking. While her music is obviously classically influenced (with a penchant for French composers like Satie and Saint-Saens), her lyrics so far, taking her name as a starting point have more been in rhyme with that English word solemn, than with the French one Soleil (sun). But it was a striking combination and presented a seamless flow between dreamlike music and nightmarish lyrics. And it worked. For example, Kill The Clown from her first album We Sink is still one of the more striking compositions in recent years.
So how does Endless Summer fare in comparison? Actually, very well, thank you. If the album title sounds a bit more cheerful than the description above it should because it fits the presented music almost perfectly. As Soley said herself in announcing this album, she wrote a note to herself saying something in the lines of: “write about summery, positive thoughts”. And she did. So, if you want to characterize this as dreamlike, you really should, because the music and lyrics on this album seem to be in sync, making the experience more of a dream than a nightmare. Soley’s musical sense and penchant for classical leanings are still intact, and while the lyrics seem to present more cheerful thoughts, that sense of sadness still seems to permeate, but now more in the sense of brief flashes that come to your mind in those long summer days when you try your hardest not to do much at all. And for that, Soley, has made a perfect accompaniment. Nightmares turn into dreams this time around.
