Emilíana Torrini (born 16 May 1977) is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. Her works include the 2009 single " Jungle Drum" and the 1999 album '' Love in the Time of Science''. She performed " Gollum's Song" for the 2002 film '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers''.

Early life

Emilíana was born in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, where she grew up in

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second-largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. ...

. Her father, Salvatore Torrini, is

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

(from

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

), while her mother, Anna Stella Snorradóttir, is Icelandic. Because of name regulations in Iceland when she was born, her father had to change his name to "Davíð Eiríksson", and she had to use the corresponding

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

in her full name, Emilíana Davíðsdóttir. A few years later, the name regulations were changed, and she took the surname Torrini. At the age of seven, she joined a choir as a soprano, until she went to opera school at the age of 15. After being discovered singing in a restaurant in Iceland by Derek Birkett, the owner of

One Little Indian Records One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In t ...

, Emilíana was asked to visit London to record a song. She decided to stay in London.

Career

Emiliana Torrini Orange Music Haifa 2005 03

Emilíana has been a member of Icelandic artist group

GusGus GusGus is an electronic music band from Reykjavík, Iceland. Although initially a film and acting collective, the group is mostly known for its electronic music. The group's discography consists of twelve studio albums. History GusGus was in ...

, and contributed vocals to several songs on their debut ''

Polydistortion ''Polydistortion'' is the second studio album by Icelandic electronic music band GusGus. The album was released on 7 April 1997 on 4AD, serving as their first release on the label. The songs "Why?" and the band's cover of Slowblow's "Is Jesus Y ...

'' (1997), most notably "Why". She co-wrote

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

's " Slow" and "Someday" from her ''

Body Language Body language is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use o ...

'' album in 2003. She also produced "Slow" along with Dan Carey; the two were nominated for a Best Dance Recording Grammy Award in 2005 for their work on the track. Prior to these, Emilíana contributed vocals to songs on

Thievery Corporation Thievery Corporation is an American electronic music duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Their musical style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip hop, electronica, and Brazilian music, ...

's 2002 album '' The Richest Man in Babylon'' and was credited with composing the songs "Resolution", "Until The Morning", and "Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes" from that album. Also in 2002, she sang vocals on

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (; born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Ma ...

's song "Hold Your Hand" taken from his '' Bunkka'' album. Her version of

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

's 1967 song "

White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dea ...

" was used in multiple action and fight scenes in the

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

Sucker Punch A sucker punch (American English), also known as a cheap shot, coward punch, one-punch attack, or king-hit (Australian English), is a punch thrown at the recipient unprovoked and without warning, allowing no time for preparation or defense on t ...

'' directed by

Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with ''Dawn of the Dead (2004 film), Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead (1978 film), of the same name ...

. It was also used in an episode of the TV series ''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American Science fiction film, science fiction thriller film directed by Terry Gilliam from a screenplay by David Peoples and Janet Peoples, based on Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée''. It stars Bruce Willis, M ...

''. On 3 June 2013, she revealed to fans that she would release her new album on 9 September 2013 in the UK. The album was released in Ireland, Iceland, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on 6 September 2013. The new LP is titled ''

Tookah ''Tookah'' is the sixth studio album recorded by Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini. It was produced by Dan Carey (music), Dan Carey over three years, from late 2011 to summer 2013. The album was released in September 2013. Promotion O ...

''. Emilíana played a number of music festivals in the lead up to the album's release in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. On 29 July 2013, Emilíana revealed the radio edition of a new track "Speed of Dark". Three additional tracks were also revealed allowing fans to stream, including "Autumn Sun", "Animal Games", and "Tookah". Emilíana was featured on

Kid Koala Eric Yick Keung San (born December 5, 1974), better known by his stage name Kid Koala, is a Canadian scratch DJ, music producer, theatre producer, film composer, multimedia-performer and visual artist. His career began as a scratch DJ in 1994. K ...

's 2017 album ''Music to Draw To: Satellite'', where she sang on seven tracks. In 2024, she said that she had not released any album under her name between 2013 and 2023 due to a disagreement and dissatisfaction with her then label Rough Trade.Emíliana Torrini var föst í vondum samningi og ákvað að gefa ekkert út í tíu ár
Ruv.is, retrieved on 20th of November, 2024

Discography

*'' Crouçie d'où là'' (1995) *''

Merman A merman (: mermen; also merlad or merboy in youth), the male counterpart of the mythical female mermaid, is a legendary creature which is human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes mer ...

'' (1996) *'' Love in the Time of Science'' (1999) *'' Fisherman's Woman'' (2005) *''

Me and Armini ''Me and Armini'' is the fifth (third released outside Iceland) studio album by the Icelandic singer and songwriter Emilíana Torrini. It was produced by Dan Carey, and released on September 8, 2008. The album spawned three singles: " Me and Armi ...

'' (2008) *''

'' (2013) *''Racing the Storm'' with the Colorist Orchestra (2023) *'' Miss Flower'' (2024)

References

External links

*
Unofficial Emilíana Torrini video archive

in the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrini, Emiliana 1977 births Emiliana Torrini Virgin Records artists Emiliana Torrini Emiliana Torrini Emiliana Torrini Emiliana Torrini Emiliana Torrini Emiliana Torrini Emiliana Torrini Living people One Little Independent Records artists Emiliana Torrini People of Campanian descent Rough Trade Records artists Folk-pop singers Icelandic women in electronic music 21st-century Icelandic singers Trip hop musicians 20th-century Icelandic women singers 21st-century Icelandic women singers Icelandic people with family names Indie pop musicians