Kælan Mikla (, ) is an Icelandic
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
band, formed in 2013 in
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...
. The trio consists of lead vocalist Laufey Soffía, bassist Margrét Rósa Dóru-Harrýsdóttir and keyboardist Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir. Their music has been described as
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
,
dark wave
Dark wave, or 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 being dark, ro ...
,
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 temp ...
and
gothic.
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 by Fabrika Records, ''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.
...
.
The band has played the famous Dutch music festival
Roadburn
The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name.
The festival has been held at Tilburg ...
, been championed by
Robert Smith of
the Cure
The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...
and opened for
Placebo
A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...
,
Alcest
Alcest () is a French post-black metal band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, founded and led by Neige (musician), Neige (Stéphane Paut). It began in 2000 as a black metal solo project by Neige, then became a trio, but members Aegnor and Argoth left the ...
, and
Ville Valo
Ville Hermanni Valo (; born 22 November 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic rock band HIM (Finnish band), HIM.
Born and raised in Helsinki to a Hungarian mother and Finnish fa ...
of
HIM.
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 (, ) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, picture books, and a comic strip by the Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Finnish publisher Schildts. They are a ...
'', 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 Helsinki, Stockholm, ...
. The members met while attending
Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð
Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð (, and usually referred to as MH) is a state school, public Gymnasium (school), gymnasium located in Hlíðahverfi, Reykjavík, Iceland. The school was founded in 1966 by the Ministry of Education, Science and Cult ...
, 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 Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...
. 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, who the band opened for in 2017 and 2018.
Robert Smith asked Kælan Mikla to perform at the 2018
Meltdown festival in London, whose lineup Smith personally curated for the Cure's 40th anniversary. The group opened for
Placebo
A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...
at the
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank.
It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...
.
The band also performed at
Roadburn Festival
The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name.
The festival has been held at Tilburg ...
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 held annually in November in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 1999. Its main focus is showcasing new music, both Icelandic and international.
Background
The event is promoted and produced by Iceland Music Export ...
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
Pixies Pixies may refer to:
* Plural of Pixie
* Pixies (band)
The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim ...
,
Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...
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). Mogwa ...
.
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 (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 representativ ...
and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
on 2 June. The album was released on 15 October 2021 and features
Alcest
Alcest () is a French post-black metal band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, founded and led by Neige (musician), Neige (Stéphane Paut). It began in 2000 as a black metal solo project by Neige, then became a trio, but members Aegnor and Argoth left the ...
, who the band opened for in 2020, on the song "Hvítir sandar".
2023 the band performed together with
Bardi Johannsson at Transilvania International Film Festival to the Swedish 1921 silent movie "
The Phantom Carriage
''The Phantom Carriage'' (, literally "The Wagoner") is a 1921 Swedish silent film directed by and starring Victor Sjöström, based on the 1912 novel '' Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'' (''Körkarlen'') by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. In the ...
". In April 2024, the original score is going to be released digital and physical. The band contributed already their song "Kalt" to the silent movie "F.W.M. Symphony" directed by visual artist
Thomas Hörl
Thomas Hörl (born 20 August 1981) is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 1997 to 2003.
Career
After winning the Alpen Cup in 1996 at the age of fifteen, together with medalling in junior level competitions, Hörl started his senio ...
in 2022.
Musical style and lyrics
Kælan Mikla's music is often described as
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
,
dark wave
Dark wave, or 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 being dark, ro ...
,
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 temp ...
and
gothic.
''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 ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
, which inspires their heavy use of witchcraft imagery.
Band members
Current members
* Laufey Soffía - lead vocals
* Margrét Rósa - bass, backing vocals
* Sólveig Matthildur - keyboards, backing vocals, flute, drums
Discography
* ''Mánadans'' (2014)
* ''Kælan Mikla'' (2016) Fabrikas Records
* ''Nótt eftir nótt'' (2018)
* ''Undir köldum norðurljósum'' (2021)
References
{{Reflist
2013 establishments in Iceland
Feminist musicians
Icelandic musical trios
Icelandic post-punk music groups
Musical groups established in 2013
Musical groups from Reykjavík