“It’s not very happy music,” says Sóley, with a laugh. “I make music all in minor keys, or most of it, so that’s probably the first sound of being a little sad. I like keeping the lyrics that way, being maybe a little surreal and weird.”
Prior to going solo, the Icelandic songwriter spent a few years playing piano in seven-piece indie-folk outfit Seabear. Then in 2010, Berlin’s Morr Music discovered a handful of her solo recordings, which gave rise to the Theater Island EP. We Sink followed soon after, catalysing a two-year touring campaign. It didn’t take long for Sóley to feel at home as a solo artist.
“I’m kind of bossy, so it’s good for me to be solo,” she says. “It’s totally different being in a seven-piece band, where you have to share ideas and be ready if people don’t like your idea or want to change it. What I like about being solo is I can do whatever I want. But the bad part of it is that sometimes you stop seeing what you’re doing. You’re really focused on one part and you stop seeing the whole picture of it.”
It’s more than three years since We Sink came out. While the record had a slow burn effect, a question mark has now emerged regarding a follow-up album. The good news is that parched palettes will be revived in May, when Sóley delivers her second LP Ask the Deep.
“I was touring for more than two years without much break in between,” she says. “The first year I was touring, I was working, too – I was teaching music – so when I was at home I didn’t have time. When you’re at home, you have maybe two weeks off, you don’t rush to the studio and go and make music. It takes a lot of energy to tour so much.
“Then I got pregnant, which was great but we weren’t planning on it. That was also another thing, because when I was pregnant I really didn’t feel any longing to create, which was really interesting. You give so much to make a child, which is crazy.”
Before the release of We Sink, Sóley had limited experience performing her solo compositions. Spending a couple of years on the road encouraged her to alter the sounds and instrumentation used on Ask the Deep.
“I was trying to get rid of the piano being the main instrument,” says Sóley. “I was playing more organs and synths and stuff. I have a keyboard that is quite a good keyboard, but I never find live piano sounds on keyboards good. I was really tired of not being happy with the live sound of the piano. So that was the main reason. I think organs and synths, they sound better live than if I don’t have a grand piano.”
In spite of the sonic remodeling, when it came to the songwriting itself, Sóley was cautious to prevent thoughts about the live show overriding her instincts. “We are three in the band (Jón Óskar Jónsson on drums and Albert Finnbogason on keys/ guitar) so I was definitely sometimes thinking, ‘I should do that instead of this,’ because it would probably work better live,” she says. “But I tried not to, because I think the album and live should be two different things. It just happens; now you know how your drummer plays, you find something that suits the band. I thought of what kind of styles we do live, but still I tried not to be like, ‘Oh I have to do this kind of song because it’s really poppy and it really works,’ or something like that.”
Before the new record is released, Sóley and her two-piece band will make their first visit to Australia. The delicate and spacious nature of her songs recommends a hushed atmosphere at her shows. Fortunately, this tends to be what she gets.
“I’m really lucky with the audience that comes to my shows,” she says. “They really listen. Of course I like to have the space and I also really like to hear the silence. It’s nice to be on stage and have maybe a few hundred people standing and no one is talking. It’s a good moment.”
Sóley plays at Howler next Tuesday, which is part of the Brunswick Music Festival. Although touring has its hang-ups – separation from her one-year-old daughter being one of them – the amiable Icelander isn’t blind to the significance of traveling all the way to the antipodes to play music.
“It’s going to be the farthest I’ve been, when I arrive, so I’m really forward to it,” she says. “It’s really nice to go to new countries to check [them off]. You’re like, ‘That’s done, that’s done.’ I think that’s really cool. To be able to travel so much and so far away to various places, it’s great.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
