Samaris is an

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

group from Iceland which formed in January 2011 and consists of Áslaug Rún Magnúsdóttir (

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

), Þórður Kári Steinþórsson (

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

) and

Jófríður Ákadóttir Jófríður Ákadóttir (born 4 August 1994) is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist known as JFDR and is a founding member of the musical groups Samaris (band), Samaris and Pascal Pinon (band), Pascal Pinon. She h ...

(

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

History

After forming in January 2011, Samaris entered and won the 2011 Icelandic

Músíktilraunir Músíktilraunir () is an annual music competition held in Reykjavík, Iceland. Winners * 1982 – Dron * 1983 – Dúkkulísurnar * 1984 – ''not held due to Strike action, teachers' strike'' * 1985 – Gipsy * 1986 – Greifarnir * 1987 – ...

competition. Steinþórsson also won the Keyboard/Programmer prize. Following this, the group self-released their ''Hljóma Þú'' (2011) EP, which won the band an Icelandic

Kraumur Kraumur Music Fund is an independent Icelandic music fund and operation established by thAurora Charity Foundationin the beginning of 2008 ''"to strengthen Icelandic musical life, primarily by supporting young musicians in performing and presenting ...

award. In August 2011, Samaris took part in
Stage Europe Network
event in The Netherlands which brought together acts from Norway, The Netherlands, Poland, France, Germany and Iceland. In October 2011, Samaris performed at the

Iceland Airwaves Iceland Airwaves is a music festival held annually in November in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 1999. Its main focus is showcasing new music, both Icelandic and international. Background The event is promoted and produced by Iceland Music Export ...

festival. A further self-released EP, ''Stofnar falla'', followed in 2012 before the group signed with

One Little Indian Records One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In t ...

. The band performed at the 2012 Iceland Airwaves festival. Samaris's self-titled debut album was released in July 2013, which combined the tracks from their two previous EPs along with four

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

es, to generally favourable reviews. The album combined their music with lyrics taken from 19th-century Icelandic poems. The follow-up album ''Black Lights'' (2016), which had been recorded in Berlin the year prior, marks their switch to making music in English. It was headed up by the release of the lead-single "Wanted 2 Say" in April, 2016. In 2017, lead singer Jófríður Ákadóttir was featured on Low Roar's single, "Bones", from their upcoming album ''Once In A Long, Long While''.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Samaris'' (2013),

One Little Indian One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In t ...

*''Silkidrangar'' (2014), One Little Indian *''Silkidrangar Sessions'' (2015), One Little Indian *''Black Lights'' (2016), One Little Indian

Extended plays

*''Hljóma Þú '' (2011), self-released *''Stofnar falla'' (2012), self-released

Singles

*"Góða tungl" (2013), One Little Indian *"Viltu vitrast" (2013), One Little Indian *"Ég vildi fegin verða" (2014), One Little Indian * "Brennur Stjarna" (2014), One Little Indian * "Wanted 2 Say" (2016), One Little Indian

References

{{Authority control 2011 establishments in Iceland Icelandic electronic music groups Musical groups established in 2011 Icelandic musical trios