The Blackheart Orchestra are a wonderful band. The northern duo have made waves across folk and prog seas and their live shows are always inspiring. Their sound is always imaginative and ethereal.

The band will be performing an online show on 26th June via Facebook live (here).

In the first of two Why I Love features from The Blackheart Orchestra, we welcome singer Chrissy Mostyn to At The Barrier as she writes for us about her love of Sigur Rós.

I remember it was early January 2009, the day after new year if I recall, we were in our very early days as a band and chased whims easily, not that we have changed much in that regard, but we had just written and recorded a new song and in our new born eagerness had decided that it was a great idea to jump on the next ferry across to Dublin to shoot a music video to accompany it.

So we made our way to The River Liffey, the walkways were lined with naked trees still lit from the Christmas lights and everything seemed perfect until we got to work. We soon realised that the video camera we were using was not up to the job at hand and I wasn’t so good at taking direction!

We spent the entire time arguing madly about things that didn’t matter. With nightfall we bundled our freezing, hungry, deflated souls back into the car and headed straight to the port for the 2AM ferry home.

As we sat in the unlit, deserted car park the snow began to fall. With the engine running for warmth we decided to drown out our disappointment with the radio. We tuned into RTE 1 and we were both silenced by the sound that now filled the space, it was probably one of the most beautiful sonic experiences I’ve ever had and I’m sure I held my breath until it was over, with tear stained cheeks I remember stumbling around for my phone to make a note of the artist and the song.

It was a band that I hadn’t heard of called Sigur Rós and the song was Fljótavík. The vocalist Jonsi sings mainly in Icelandic and often in Hopelandic so even though I had no idea of the meaning behind the words, the vulnerability of the vocals supported gently by the luscious production moved me in a deep and profound way.

It taught me that singing goes way beyond the lyrical and the intention of the vocals and the music is everything, music really can be a beautiful language all of its own.

The day after I rushed out to buy the album entitled With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly which has gone on to be one of my favourite albums of all time.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to see them perform live yet which I plan to rectify soon and I am still living in hope that one day they will accept our pleads to support them!

Their music has been a real gift to me and every single time I hear FljótavíkI am transported right back to that snowy night in Ireland, which makes the ferry fair worth every penny.

Our gratitude goes to Chrissy for her words on the sublime Sigur Rós. Check out the bands video for Violet below, and check out the bands Facebook live on 26th June for their live stream.

The Blackheart Orchestra: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Bandcamp / Instagram 

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