The Return of Sigur Rós

Hey there, beloved High Five Club members and prospective members,

It's your friends at the Reykjavík Grapevine (Si apre in una nuova finestra), popping back into your inbox with a hello and to bring you the latest reads from our mag and news from Iceland.

FROM THE MAG

Our new issue hit the streets of Reykjavík this morning! On the cover and the feature spread is the iconic and incomparable Sigur Rós. Contributor Árni Hjörvar caught up with band members Kjartan Sveinsson, who has rejoined Sigur Rós after 10 years away, and Georg Hólm to discuss the bands first new album since 2017. Átta is a “gigantic” release that has the reunited trio currently touring with a full orchestra in an effort to do the grandness of the sound justice. Read the feature right here (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

(Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Also in our latest issue, food writer Shruthi Basappa digs into the significance of the recent increase in Icelandic restaurants with Michelin stars and ponders why more focus isn’t being placed on marketing Iceland as a gastronomic destination. Take a closer look at the state of the culinary scene in Iceland (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

(Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Other weekend reading from the Grapevine

• Charlie Winters marvels at the majesty of the swimsuit dryer (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

• Catharine Fulton spends a day wandering around the old harbour (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

• Catherine Magnúsdóttir goes inside Reykjavík’s most underground museum (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

• And we respond to some hate mail (Si apre in una nuova finestra)!

EXTRA! EXTRA! 

• Reykjavík Mayor Defends City’s Rainbow Street on Twitter (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

• Ramp Up Iceland Expands To Europe (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

• Man Dead Following Physical Attack in Reykjavik Club (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

• Video of Icelandic Child Gets 58 Million Views on Instagram (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

LISTEN UP

Not much has changed in the last week, in that the weather outside continues to get us down. It’s July tomorrow, people! Give us some sun already! Luckily, some fresh tracks hit the airwaves recently to keep our spirits up (even indoors).

Read about (and listen to) the new music streaming at Grapevine HQ in our weekly new music dispatch (Si apre in una nuova finestra). And stream our new weekly music podcast right here (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Have you been keeping up with Valur Gunnarsson’s eight-part series exploring alternative outcomes to key events in Icelandic history? His latest hypothetical thought experiment centres around what would have happened had German troops landed on Icelandic shores in World War II instead of the British. Give it a read right here (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

(Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Catch up with the entire series (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and tune in to the Grapevine’s Alternative History of Iceland podcast, where Valur and Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson delve deeper into a new “what if” in each episode. If you like history, alternative reality or middle-age dudes talking about stuff that never happened, this podcast is for you (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

That's it from us this week. As always, thanks for your support.

<3 Team Grapevine

If you were a member of our High Five Club, this post would have included an exclusive early access link to view our newest YouTube video content, plus sweet discount codes for the Grapevine store and travel portal. Want that?