When i think of harmonies, two bands spring to mind – The Carpenters and the Lush Rollers. Two very different groups, but one very similar feature.
Recently I went to see Blood Harmony in the Universal Hall.
Blood harmony is a phrase in Iceland which refers particulay to the musical bond between family members, and while this band is young, their family is entrenched in music.
I don’t really know why harmonies work better with siblings, but this Icelandic trio will forever spring to mind alongside the other two.
These three examples prove the point that harmonies are ‘in the blood’.
The three have a family history in music, but Covid saw them at a loose end and they came together to form a band and write new songs. As a result, we got to hear their entire repertoire, which is soon to be released as a CD.
Harmonies are definitely their USP, the eldest sister Osp Eldjarn fronts the band and the younger siblings Orn and Bjork provide male and female harmonies.
It works well. Bjork has a subtle quieter voice than her sister, and the obvious differences from a male voice provides the masculine tint.
They joked that their audience in the Universal Hall was bigger than they get at home. But perhaps the attraction of an Icelandic group in Scotland is slightly more appealing than it is at home. The Nordic accent with an Icelandic twang definitely has an appeal outside of the more frequently-heard European languages.
Orn plays the guitar, and with this being th only instrument, it doesn’t overpower the voices. The strings become the fourth voice alongside the harmonies.
Most of their songs are about break-ups, sadness, lost love, etc, but equally, the back story they tell before the song is of a real-life situation. Osp told of her childhood friend at the bottom of the valley, and you can just picture the scene, perhaps not because the Icelandic landscape is very similar to the highland one, and if Sorley Maclean and Iain Crichton Smith could paint a remote landscape with their words, then these three can do it with a song.
Wicked Heart was the only song led by Orn, perhaps a more distinctive voice but interesting to note how the girls harmonised on this without dominating his lead sound.
As a reviewer, i kept trying to find a comparison, and while a previous writer had likened their sound to Joni Mitchell. I could hear that, but intrinsically, these three had a sound of their own. Not iconic, but pleasant enough to be etched in my mind. I want to hear more, and I will buy their CD when it comes out, or stream it if that option is available.
As harmonies go, I could say that this band is one of only three that have caught my ear. That alone will keep their songs alive in my head.