The Ice Queen

Hafdis Huld
Genre: Acoustic / Folk / Pop
From: Iceland

The Plot

The pace is hotting up for Icelandic folkster Hafdis Huld; a new single, a UK tour, a new website, a new management team and a new album under way.

Last year saw Hafdis gigging in Europe, filming ad campaigns for Mercedes Benz and Reyka Vodka, and guesting on Tricky’s ‘Knowle West Boy’. By the summer she was back in the UK, writing songs for her second album and continuing her series of quirky video blogs which have developed an avid following.

The Recording

At the start of 2009 she gathered together a group of A-list musicians along with French grammy winning producer Calum MacColl, and took them to a remote studio in Yorkshire to record a bunch of new tracks. The sound they created has grown from her first album, ‘Dirty Paper Cup’, using a range of unusual instruments and percussion to provide a warm, organic, live sound.

“It was lovely getting back into the studio. The place we recorded in was a converted barn with chickens wandering around outside. It snowed and we were all wrapped up in scarves and hats and gloves. My Mum and Dad came over from Iceland to cook for us all so it felt just like home. I think that comes across in the recording because we were all so relaxed. It was quite homely and not at all glamorous or rock and roll but I always wore a bit of glitter with my mittens!” says Hafdis.

The Single

The first single release from these sessions is the up-beat, percussion-driven ‘Kongulo’, released on Hafdis’s own label. Kongulo is the Icelandic word for spider; the song was inspired by Frenchman Alain Robert, known as the ‘human spiderman’, who climbs skyscrapers using just his bare hands. The accompanying video (of Hafdis in the woods with a bloke in a spiderman costume) is another tongue-in-cheek classic in the vein of the award-winning video for the earlier single, ‘Tomoko’.

Website, Twitter and the Blog

Hafdis’s beautiful new website is here: http://www.hafdishuld.com.

You can see the videoblog of the recording, and all the other videoblogs here: http://www.hafdishuld.blogspot.com/

Hafdis will be blogging and tweeting about the progress of her single, the press campaign around it and everything that happens on tour, good and bad. Follow her here: http://twitter.com/hafdishuld

Or you can check her out at her myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/hafdishuld