At age 28, singer-songwriter Snorri Helgason has already enjoyed a remarkable career, and he’s barely getting started. He has managed feats and received accolades that few musicians could ever hope for. This includes (but is not limited to) penning several chart-topping hits, leading a band to multi-platinum sales and world tours and collaborating with some of Iceland’s best-regarded musicians, celebrated artists such as Valgeir Sigurðsson, Sindri Már ‘Sin Fang’ Sigfússon and Sóley.
Snorri Helgason’s music is heartfelt and introspective, yet universal, a highly relatable exploration of his personal struggles and emotions. An avid student of pop history, Snorri keeps a firm foot in the past and a clear eye on the future, bringing forth a constant stream of timeless folk-tinged melodies and carefully constructed songs that are very much of the time.
Snorri lead his first band, Sprengjuhöllin, to massive popularity in his native Iceland. In the span of three years, they released two best-selling, award-winning albums featuring several chart-topping radio hits (one of them, a Snorri-penned number, remained at the top of Icelandic National Radio’s charts for 27 consecutive weeks) and regularly played sold out shows. Sprengjuhöllin ultimately progressed to touring the world, performing at major festivals and at clubs in Europe and North America.
Sprengjuhöllin eventually dissolved, leaving Snorri free to embark upon a fruitful solo career that has already yielded two critically acclaimed albums, several successful tours around Europe and various successful radio singles.
Drawing inspiration from the power pop and folk music of the sixties and seventies while honoring personal icons such as Townes Van Zandt and Harry Nilsson, Snorri produced a beautifully crafted début album—I’m Gonna Put My Name On Your Door— that firmly established him as a solo artist in the vibrant Icelandic music scene.
After touring his début extensively, Snorri paid a visit to old friend Sindri Már Sigfússons’s studio to record some of the songs he had been working on. Their collaboration proved fruitful beyond belief. The session, starting off as a lark, quickly turned serious, with the two frantically working to capture the results of Snorri’s recent labor as interpreted through Sindri’s work methods. Pots of coffee were consumed, packs of cigarettes were smoked and old friends of the two, like Mr. Silla (of múm) and Sóley were recruited to record vocals and instrument tracks.
The resulting LP, Winter Sun, is an ambitious, sometimes painfully honest meditation on growing up, growing old and coming to terms with oneself. It is Snorri’s most critically lauded piece of music, proving that he is here for the long haul and that we, the listeners, are in for some very special treats as he moves forward.
Following Winter Sun’s release, Snorri started playing like a madman at any place that would have him. And he put together a helluva band. Herding a bunch of old friends—that just happen to form a kinda Icelandic music scene supergroup—Snorri’s group consists of the aforementioned Mr. Silla, drummer Magnús Trygvason Elíassen (Amiina, Sin Fang, Tilbury, AdHD) and bassist Guðmundur Óskar (of Hjaltalín fame).
Those guys have built an exceptionally solid vibe. In fact, Snorri is currently recording an album with them in ‘band mode’ (they are now operating as The Snorri Helgason Band), which is reportedly sounding great and due out this fall.
Haukur S Magnússon