Útidúr

Iceland
”..this music is brimming with ideas and every new rotation brings fresh details into light… an exceptionally entertaining and well-executed recording.”
The Reykjavík Grapevine

Artist information

Útidúr is a musical group from Iceland that plays ambitious chamber-pop with a dramatic streak. Although this charismatic crew is quite (midnight) sunny in attitude they also know their way through darker waters. Trace elements of Angelo Badalamenti, Beirut, Calexico and Ennio Morricone can be found in their system so fans of these should expose themselves to Útidúr in any way they deem appropriate.

Formed by guitarist/singer Gunnar Örn and keyboardist Kristinn Roach, Útidúr started churning out multifaceted songwriting that soon chain-reacted the project to mushroom into a ten strong bunch. The full posse now includes players of double bass, drums, trumpet, violins, a second guitar and an accordion. The band has honed their craft for a while and began playing at various venues in downtown Reykjavík in late summer of 2009.

Útidúr’s debut album ‘This Mess We’ve Made’ was released in the fall of 2010. Recorded at the Sigur Rós owned studio ‘Sundlaugin’ the album is big in sound, featuring over 20 musicians. It is a quite spacious blend of bipolar drama and sofa-sinking mellowness, all soaked in hook-laden pop sensibility.

The mini album ‘Detour’ was released in the spring of 2013 and was recorded by the band itself. It uses electronic sounds to a bigger extent and is in itself a detour from what Útidúr usually does.

Since 2011 they have left the audiences everywhere enchanted and speechless. Their live triumphal procession brought them so far to great festivals such as the Fusion Festival in Laerz, the Maifeld Derby in Mannheim, the Trans Vocale Festival in Frankfurt/Oder and many other renowned venues.

Watch Útidúr on Youtube

Watch Útidúr on Vimeo