On her debut album, the Icelandic pianist and singer Anna Gréta, who lives in Sweden, enchants with subtle songs, her nuanced voice and expressive piano playing between jazz, indie and folk. A remarkable new player in the "Nordic Sound".
Nightjar in the Northern Sky. An iconic, almost familiar image that instantly sets up a scenery, a temperature, a state of mind. Why? Probably because it has such a strong effect describing a place of longing that many people are only too happy to imagine themselves in.The album of the same name by pianist and singer Anna Gréta creates such a setting, implying vast spaces, diffused Nordic light and comforting intimacy. Her music is shaped by these familiar yet surreal Nordic sounds, which her native Iceland has instilled in her since birth. Growing up near the capital of Reykjavík, her father (who also guests on the album) is a jazz saxophonist – so it’s evident that music surrounded her throughout her childhood. The first formative influence that Anna Gréta remembers was The Beatles’ Let It Be: “This song, its simplicity and power, an...
line upAnna Gréta / piano, keyboards, vocals, backing vocals
Skúli Sverrisson / bass
Einar Scheving / drums
Hilmar Jensson / guitar
Sigurður Flosason / saxophone
Johan Tengholm / double bass
Ragnheiður Gröndal / backing vocals
All music and lyrics by Anna Gréta, except The Tunnel, based on a poem by Robert Creeley
Recorded at Sundlaugin Studio, Iceland on January 5-6th 2021; at Studio Á, Iceland during January 2021; and at Studio 1010 in Stockholm during March 2021
Engineered and mixed by Albert Finnbogason Mastered by Hoffe Stannow at Cosmos Mastering, Stockholm Produced by Anna Gréta and Albert Finnbogason
