Ólöf Arnalds

With her soft, elfin delivery and skills as a multi-instrumentalist, Ólöf Arnalds has been a vital member of the Icelandic music and arts scene beyond her own indie folk albums. She evoked the troubadour era as well as a sprinkling of fairy dust on her first album, the acoustic Við og Við (2007). Arnalds gradually expanded arrangements, adding more overdubs to 2010's Innundir Skinni, and including atmospheric electric guitar, electronics, and percussion by her fourth album, 2014's Palme. After a spending a decade out of the spotlight, during which time she founded a cultural space in Reykjavik (Mengi) and raised her children, Arnalds returned in 2025 with the personal Spíra, her sparest album since her debut.