Sólstafir are a band who
rarely ever slow down; even with a few pauses, they’ve been releasing albums
since 1995. But it just so happens that right before COVID, they were actually
taking a bit of a break.
“We’ve taken a bit of a break these past six months, as I had my first child in
April, and our drummer had a child in July,” says Aðalbjörn “Addi”
Tryggvason, the band’s guitarist and vocalist. “But we did start recording in
February, which was when the shit finally started hitting the fan.”
As the band continued recording their latest album, it became even more clear that COVID was going to be serious. But despite the fact that this wouldn’t be a record that could be toured on normally, the band were eager to have it see the light of day.
The new Solstafir record, Endless Twilight of Codependent Love, out November 6 via Season of Mist, is laced with rock ‘n’ roll influence from all over the world, from Americana and traditional Icelandic folk influence, to more contemporary stylings. There are also some elements of murder ballads on the record.
“I think everything you listen to, everything you breathe, and you smell, and you read, and you inhale, it’s gonna affect you,” explains Tryggvason. “There’s one song on the record, it’s basically about a woman being sexually assaulted, and it’s a devastating thing. She gets even by killing her attacker and chops off his genitals, watches him bleed to death. It’s morbid stuff. I don’t know how that came to us, but it came to us. Now, I don’t know anyone who has cut off anyone’s genitals in real life, but women do suffer from sexual assault all the time, and it’s awful.”
Fittingly, many of the other songs on the album are also about redemption, but of a more personal nature. They are about overcoming depression, anxiety, and addiction, personal struggles and personal victories.
Thus, the band went with an empowering, feminist image for the cover of their latest record. The image showed up in the newspaper when they were looking for cover images, a 150-year-old German painting featuring a strong woman with a raven and bloody sword.
While the record is certainly a success, the elephant in the room, COVID, still remains. The epic album currently can’t be toured on, and the band members are now family guys with jobs who have taken a break from playing together.
Still, they are in no way resting on their laurels.
“We’re also working on a live album,” says Tryggvason. “That’s to be shipped shortly after the release of the new album. So, in addition to making a new album, we’ve been working on the live album, and making two children, and doing promotion for the album. So, the to-do list is happening.” To stay up to date with Sólstafir, snag Endless Twilight of Codependent Love, out now on Season of Mist, and be on the lookout for a live album and more announcements soon.
Pick up a copy here.
