Iceland Band Nordic Affect Does The Classics

This blog originally appeared on Peter Getty Music & TV

Iceland contains more than snow, ice and Bjork. The music of the diminutive country has great soul and spirit, and though the United States have heard little from or Nordic friends in awhile,  an all-female quartet with a classic sound can be heard all the way back to the 1600s.

Nordic Affect, formed in 2005, plays 17th century dance music as deftly as newly commissioned works like Clockworking, the title track from the upcoming album. The piece builds momentum slowly, like chopping wood or churning butter.  With the performers adroitly using their instruments, they create a pacing that is a lulling anachronistic lullaby.

Nordic Affect’s artistic director Halla Steinunn Stef?nsd?ttir describes Clockworking as a “rendezvous between human and machine”. With violin, viola and cello, and electronics, Nordic Affect is the brainchild of band Maria Huld Markan Sigfsdottir, of indie band Amiina, which served as the string section for .

Clockworking which was mixed by Valgeir Sigurosson, owner and engineer of Greenhouse Studios who has worked extensively with Iceland’s most well-known musical act Bjork. With Nordic Affect’s album’s release on July 31st, Bjork may have some friendly, neighborhood competition on her hands.