Olof Arnalds - Sudden Elevation

2013 release, the Icelandic singer/songwriter's third full album and her first sung entirely in English. Sudden Elevation captures a rare and idiosyncratic songwriting talent in full bloom. From the breezily skipping rhythm of opener 'German Fields' to the pealing vocals of closer, 'Perfect', Sudden Elevation's particular brand of heartache is magical, dislocated and otherworldly; it's harmonies complex and quietly electrifying. Produced by longtime collaborator Skúli Sverrisson, Sudden Elevation was largely recorded in a late autumn 2011 stint in a seaside cabin in Hvalfjörður in the west of Iceland.