Ólöf Arnalds

Icelandic folk chanteuse Ólöf Arnalds has been a prominent figure in her native music scene for several years playing with Múm, Mugison, and Skúli Sverrisson. Ólöf has also been active in mixing aural and visual arts, taking a solo turn in and providing hypnotic vocals for Steingrímur Eyfjörð's video contribution to the 2007 Venice Biennial. The piece also won the 2008 Icelandic Visual Arts Award.

However, it is Ólöf's solo debut Við og Við that continues to garner widespread acclaim. Produced by Kjartan Sveinsson from Sigur rós, it won Best Alternative Album at the Iceland Music Awards as well as Record of the Year at Iceland's largest daily newspaper, Morgunblaðið.

2008 has seen Ólöf play festivals throughout Europe. Highlights include sharing a three-way bill with Björk and Sigur Rós at Iceland's Náttúra concert, and opening for Björk in Athens, Greece. In September, Ólöf performed a sold out showcase at NYC's Le Poisson Rouge that was featured as the music pick for the day in the New York Times UrbanEye, Time Out New York, The Onion, and Flavorpill. Dig For Fire TV filmed the show for a documentary on Ólöf to be featured as part of their Ears To The Ground series. In October, Ólöf also became the first Icelandic musician to play a prestigious showcase slot at WOMEX, the world music expo.