Ólöf Arnalds can hold a room with nothing but a small guitar and her soprano voice. Classically trained on violin and viola, self-taught on guitar and charango, she has spent thirty years in Icelandic music - in teenage bands, with Slowblow, Mugison and Stórsveit Nix Noltes, and on stage with múm from 2003, playing a horned Stroh violin.

"Somewhere between a child and an old woman." - Björk

Her voice has been called "otherworldly" by The New York Times, "stunning" by SPIN, "bewitching" by Rolling Stone, "remarkable" by the NME, "ethereal" by Vanity Fair and "impossibly lovely" by Paste.

Her 2007 debut Við og við, produced by Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Rós, became a local classic almost overnight: Best Alternative Album at the Icelandic Music Awards, and one of the decade's hundred best albums according to eMusic. Innundir skinni (2010) followed, with Ragnar Kjartansson and Björk among its guests, a Nordic Music Prize nomination, and Composer of the Year at home. Two English-language records came after - Sudden Elevation (2013) and Palme (2014).

She has toured Europe, the United States and Australia alongside Dirty Projectors, Blonde Redhead, Sigur Rós, Air, CocoRosie, Jonathan Richman and Nick Cave's Grinderman. Even in large halls full of people waiting for loud rock, her solo show holds the room.

SPÍRA

Spíra (Sprout) came out on Bella Union in December 2025 - her fifth album, and her first in eleven years. It is entirely in Icelandic and stripped back to almost nothing: voice, guitar, a little piano, recorded mostly in single takes in the control room at Sundlaugin. It was produced by Skúli Sverrisson, whose work runs from musical direction for Laurie Anderson to records with David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Bill Frisell. Davíð Þór Jónsson plays piano and guitar.

PRESS

"First album in a decade from a singularly beguiling Icelandic singer-songwriter... as otherworldly as it is ineffably uplifting." - MOJO, 4 stars

"Mesmerising. With a voice as crystal clear as a mountain spring... If you've previously fallen under the spell of Joanna Newsom, this is for you." - The Sun, 4 stars

"Icelandic chamber-folk singer's return dazzles... blooming to earthy, dreamy and transporting effect." - Record Collector, 4 stars

"A masterclass in quiet intensity and emotional precision." - HiFi Choice, 4 stars

"That enchanting, crystal-clear high voice is far too beautiful not to be shared with the world - a sound that seems to reach us from another time." - De Volkskrant, best new album of the week

Four stars also in Rock'n'Reel, AllMusic, Everything Is Noise and Buzz; 8/10 in HiFi News. Radio: BBC 6 Music (Cerys Matthews, New Music Fix), NPR Music's New Music Friday, SR Kulturradio album of the week, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Bayern 2, hr2, Bremen Zwei, MDR Kultur, Ö1 and France Inter.

LIVE

Solo: one performer, one guitar, one vocal microphone. She also plays charango, violin and koto depending on the room and the programme. As a duo with Skúli Sverrisson - who produced Spíra, and whose own work runs from musical direction for Laurie Anderson to records with Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Sylvian and Bill Frisell - the album is performed as it was made. Kaldur sólargeisli, written by Sverrisson for her voice and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, can be programmed with a resident orchestra.

She travels light and needs no crew. As an Icelandic artist she has access to international touring support, which brings the cost of bringing her over well below what the distance suggests.

Solo dates are open across 2026 and 2027, and both autumns are currently clear. Contact us for available dates.