Click here to return to the main site.

Music Review


Book Cover

Stop (single)

 

Artist: Hafdis Huld
Red Grape Records
RRP: £3.99
Available 24 November 2008


Hafdis Huld started singing with Gus Gus, a nine piece Icelandic collective when she was just 15 years old. During the rest of her teenage years she toured the world, enjoying Europe-wide recognition and widespread attention across the UK and America.

Upon moving to the UK, Huld started writing her own songs and quickly collaborated with F.C. Kahuna, co-writing their singles ‘Hayling’ and ‘Machine Says Yes’, at the same time starting to develop songs that would eventually form the basis of her solo album Dirty Paper Cup, which was released in 2006 through Mvine/Red Grape Records and won the award of best pop album at the Icelandic music awards.

In October 2006, shortly after her album was launched, Huld and her band toured with the Scottish heart-throb, Paolo Nutini, on an eight date sold out tour of the UK. This summer (2008) she made appearances at Glastonbury, Secret Garden party and the Big Chill festivals as well as a sell out gig in her birth town Kopavogur.

Her most recent single is a cover of the Sam Brown classic, ‘Stop’, originally a hit in 1989. It also features in a pan-European Mercedes TV ad campaign. The single is already high in the Icelandic charts and it’s easy to see why. The simplicity of the track brings a whole new sound to this already very familiar song. Huld definitely puts her mark on the single with her sweet and innocent, raw sounding voice.

She has stripped the original down and has made it her own giving it a vulnerable sound to the ever-poignant lyrics.

Huld is currently writing material for her second solo album, which is due for release in late spring, 2009.

9

Helena Rea