First let’s get the good news out. Any fan of Kira Kira who wasn’t able to get hold of a copy of her 2007 limited edition EP will be pleased to know that most of it now appears on the Our Map To The Monster Olympics (Smekkleysa Records, 2008).
Kira Kira, Kristen Bjork Kristjansdottir, released her debut album Skotta in 2006. Being Icelandic no doubt helped draw the inevitable references to Reykjavik’s Bjork that followed. However, on the strength of this album there is a lot more individuality to Kira Kira than these mere comparisons imply.
From the outside at least, Iceland appears to be a curious place.It's dark, yet spectacularly lit by the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights. It is a place rich in folk lore whose Nordic themes have often permeated through the country’s music. The landscape is often volcanic, dramatic, and yet utterly beautiful.
With all of that in mind, it is little surprise that Kira Kira comes from there. Her electro-acoustic, melodic, textured, pop takes many unexpected turns just like the landscape. Sounding initially fragile, almost brittle it often masks a deeper darkness that can at times border on the sinister.
Hidden just below the surface are magical tricks of the light, sonic suggestions and buried gems. Nuggets of sound that sometimes only appear after numerous plays at a point when you think you have become familiar with everything in the music. The result is that just like the mysterious landscape it evolves, melts, re-forms, and fascinates.
This is her sophomore release. She has avoided all the cliche'd potential pitfalls with the second album and has produced something that steps further into the labyrinth, and deeper into the experimental well of her imagination.
Kira Kira is a founding member of Iceland’s Kitchen Motors family. Essentially it is an Icelandic project exploring and promoting the relationship between both the visual and, of course, sound.
Her own visual representations are often hauntingly effective. On the website it confirms this by saying, ‘the relationship between adventurous music and primitive moving arts is of particular interest’ to her.
Article comments
1 - Jordan Richardson
Sounds really interesting, Jeff. I'm gonna have to check this out. Thanks for sharing!