ASGEIR – Time Is On My Hands – LP – Black Vinyl

LP – Standard Edition Black Vinyl.

As one of Icelands most successful exports, singer-songwritersgeirhas spent the time between his record-breaking debut (now celebrating its 10 th anniversary) and today pushing the boundaries of his textured, thoughtful brand of folk-pop. On October 28th hell release his long anticipated fourth album Time On My Hands viaOne Little Independent Records.

Time On My Hands sees sgeir in a state of self-reflection and experimentation, having spent much of the last few years in his home and in the studio deeply engrossed in writing, recording, translating and producing. On this album hes entered new realms of composition, sensitively layering acoustics with electronics and brass. As with some of his previous work, most notably 2017s Afterglow and 2020s Bury The Moon, sgeir plays with euphoric and choral elements of electronic pop music while keeping a
tight grasp on the introspective, vocal-lead style of the acoustica that made him famous.

Across the LP shuffling jazz drums crack through the layered production beneath them, distant saxophone adds emotional emphasis and, amidst it all, sgeirs singular, pure voice weaves narratives that recall the sparse and dark roads of his Icelandic
hometown. It opens with the assured relaxation of its title track and Borderland where subtle instrumental flourishes colour vibrant lyricism and elevated vocals. Its clear from the beginning that the collection is built around visuals of glacial scenery as sgeir soars above an icy terrain of enchanting melodic soundscapes with cinematic lucidity.

A strong breeze carries us into full flight with Snowblind, a track that boasts an unforgettable climatic arrangement and heftier beats. Vibrating Walls is melancholy in its delivery, while Blue is light and crisp. The towering strides of Giantess build steadily, exploring a haunting and powerful mythological allegory. Its on tracks like this, and the retrospective Like I Am, that one can fully appreciate the beauty of sgeirs lyrics, worked into English from their original Icelandic with his brotherSteiniandPeturBen.

As has become traditional for them, much of the album is also inspired by the writing of sgeirs father, celebrated poetEinar Georg Einarsson. Gorgeous ballad Waiting Room and the hypnotic, propulsive Golden Hour work together like hazy memories of carefree, simpler times; walking by lakes, forests and countrysides, reflecting on the past, and things that mightve been different. Album closer Limitless philosophizes on our individualist need to consume and the insignificance of our daily struggles in comparison to the scope of the wider universe. It asks the listener to allow themselves to see things from a different perspective, while spacey ambience is littered with satellite-like synth embellishments.

The extended time that sgeir had to work on the material gave him space to venture into different synth sounds, he tells us; Theres a synth repair guy that works at the studio and theres a lot of vintage synthesizers that come through there. We bought an old Memorymoog off him while recording the album and I used it on many of the songs. I wrote Vibrating Walls on a Korg PS-3100. Korg Delta has always been one of my favourite synths and it was used on a few tracks. I use my voice as the bass sound in
Golden Hour, I got the idea after listening to Rank and File by Moses Sumney. The rolling landscapes aesthetic of the record was inspired by sgeirs own relationship with music over the last two years, consuming mostly while he was running outdoors, or while on long drives. He says that some of the albums or music that stand out
from that time were Caribous albumSuddenly, Caroline Polichek-Pang, Dijon, Altopalo, Big Thief, Michael Kiwanuka, Sault, Ethan Gruska, Blake Mills and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. This music probably has something to do with how the record came out,
combined with earlier influences.

Time On My Hands was recorded inStudio Hljritwhere sgeir has always recorded, working closely with producerGumundur Kristinn Jnsson, he also recorded some of it at home. sgeir plays the bulk of the instruments himself but also invited the likes of drummersNils TrnqvistandKristinn Snr Agnarson, and the brass trioSamel Jn Samelsson,Kjartan Hkonarsonandskar Gujnssonas well asPetur Bento add the occasional percussion or guitar. As ruminated on in Borderland, the whole album asks us to allow ourselves to glide over borders, both the physical, the ones we put up ourselves, and those between reality and imagination. Its about freedom, the desire for adventure, and taking flight to escape isolation, as well as appreciating the natural wonders that surround us every day.

Tracklist:

1. Time On My Hands
2. Borderland
3. Snowblind
4. Vibrating Walls
5. Blue
6. Giantess
7. Like I Am
8. Waiting Room
9. Golden Hour
10. Limitless