Kælan Mikla (, ) is an Icelandic

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band, formed in 2013 in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

. The trio consists of Laufey Soffía (lead vocals), Margrét Rósa Dóru-Harrýsdóttir (bass) and Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir (synthesizer). Their music has been described as

dark wave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

cold wave A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in tem ...

and

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. The band's debut album ''Mánadans'' was recorded in 2014 and featured Matthildur on drums instead of synthesizer. They released a self-titled follow-up in 2016, ''Nótt eftir nótt'' in 2018 and ''Undir köldum norðurljósum'' in 2021. They are currently signed to

Artoffact Records Artoffact Records is a Canadian/ Icelandic record label that concentrates on industrial, postpunk, heavy metal, and electronic music. The label was founded in 1999. History In 1997, Jacek Kozlowski laid the groundwork for Artoffact Records. I ...

. The band has played the famous Dutch music festival

Roadburn Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on stone ...

, been championed by Robert Smith of

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

and opened for

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and

Alcest Alcest is a French post-black metal band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, founded and led by Neige (Stéphane Paut). It began in 2000 as a black metal solo project by Neige, soon a trio, but following the release of their first demo in 2001, band memb ...

History

Kælan Mikla formed in 2013 as an entry for a local poetry contest hosted by the Reykjavík City Library, combining Matthildur's written poems with Rósa's bass and Soffía's vocals. Matthildur was a trained flutist who learned drums for the performance, while Soffía had never sang in public before. The group won first place at the poetry slam and encouraged by the reception, decided to continue making music. The band took their name from a character in ''

Moomins The Moomins ( sv, Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finns, Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish language, Swedish by Schildts in Finland. The ...

'', a comic strip by Finnish cartoonist

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and ...

. The members met while attending

Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð ( en, Hamrahlíð College, and usually referred to as MH) is a public gymnasium located in Hlíðahverfi, Reykjavík, Iceland. The school was founded in 1966 by the Icelandic Ministry of Education; with the first ...

, a school geared towards artistically-oriented students. The band's debut album ''Mánadans'' was recorded in 2014 and was produced by Alison MacNeil of the band

Kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

. It saw release via limited edition cassette in 2017 and was re-released in 2018 on Artoffact with a bonus track. In 2015, Matthildur switched from playing drums to the synthesizer. That December, the band signed to Fabrika Records and released their self-titled second album on 30 June 2016. After years of booking their own tours, Kælan Mikla was added to agency Swamp Booking's roster by recommendation of

Drab Majesty Drab Majesty is an American musical project founded by Andrew Clinco in Los Angeles, California in 2011. Clinco, the drummer for the band Marriages, adopted the androgynous character of Deb Demure for the project. Keyboardist and vocalist Mona D ...

, who the band opened for in 2017 and 2018. Robert Smith asked Kælan Mikla to perform at the 2018

Meltdown Meltdown may refer to: Science and technology * Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident * Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors * Mutational meltdown, in population genetics Arts and entertainment Music * Me ...

festival in London, whose lineup Smith personally curated for the Cure's 40th anniversary. The group opened for

at the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

. The band also performed at Roadburn Festival for the first time in 2018. The band's third album ''Nótt eftir nótt'' ("Night After Night") was released on 9 November 2018 and "contains songs of regrets, shadows, witches and all the things that lure in the darkest hour of night, mixed with Icelandic folklore and reminiscence of the winter darkness that simultaneously frightens us and makes us feel at home," Matthildur said. Its lead single was "Nornalagið", released in October, and the band performed a release show at the

Iceland Airwaves Iceland Airwaves is a music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), n ...

festival. The second single "Næturblóm" was praised by ''Revolver'' and ''Louder Audio''. It was released on Artoffact as the band began business with the label because of their debut's re-release. In 2019, the band was again selected by Robert Smith to play his Pasadena Daydream festival in California alongside bands such as

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Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first five ...

and

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mog ...

. On 6 April 2021, the band released "Sólstöður", the lead single to their fourth album ''Undir köldum norðurljósum'' ("Under the Cold Northern Lights"). The song is "an ode to the darkest night of the year, when witches summon winter spirits in the frozen vastness of Icelandic landscapes." Second single "Ósýnileg" was premiered by

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

on 2 June. The album was released on 15 October 2021 and features

, who the band opened for in 2020, on the song "Hvítir sandar".

Musical style and lyrics

Kælan Mikla's music is often described as

and

. ''Revolver'' described their sound as containing "sweeping eerie soundscapes, irresistible post-punk hooks and dance beats couple with angelic voices and blood-curdling shrieks." The band's sound draws from the darkness and cold of its native Iceland. Icelandic nature, history, folklore and mythology play a role in Kælan Mikla's music. Its members all identify as

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

, which inspires their heavy use of witchcraft imagery.

Band members

Current members * Laufey Soffía (lead vocals) * Margrét Rósa (bass) * Sólveig Matthildur (synthesizer)

Discography

* ''Mánadans'' (2014) * ''Kælan Mikla'' (2016) * ''Nótt eftir nótt'' (2018) * ''Undir köldum norðurljósum'' (2021)

References

{{Reflist Icelandic post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 2013 Musical groups from Reykjavík