Nordic musician Guðmundur R. lets his voice echo in the name of social matters in his lyrics. Both happiness and sorrow.
Recently the musician Guðmundur R. released his AlbumEinmunatíðclaiming a spot on the public top 10 list 4 weeks in a row.
The album’s title track Einmunatíð is an honor to David Bowie, originally containing lyrics in english. Guðmundur and Bjarni Tryggja wrote the Icelandic version of the lyrics and it talks about the patient who is free from his trials, friendships and alcoholism and the fact that we do always have a choice. The lyrics can be interpreted in many ways and Guðmundur claims that that is the magic of each song that every person can hear and feel the song in their own way.
Guðmundur dedicated the album to his friends in the SúEllen-family and Ingvari Lundberg, the band’s keyboard player who passed away last summer.
,,I think this is my best album so far in my 35 year music career and this album is the most personal one yet. My last two albums I worked with Jóni Ólafssyni and they paved the way for this one. I have never sung as good and written better lyrics. I may sound egoistic but I am tired of apologising for being a musician. I have practiced for 40 years and this is me. I am proud of this music and its quality. Then we will have to see if others agree’’ Guðmundur R.
Guðmundur who is now 52 has released solo materials for the year 2007 and this album is his 4th solo album. The third in 5 years.
Guðmundur says he builds his music on the Icelandic music work, þjóðlagaskotið rock and pop. Gradually evolving. None of his albums are the same and he makes many experiments in his albums and he has talked about many social matters throughout his songs such as transgender children, covid, alcoholism, alzheimer, drug use, suicides , finance collaps and more.
,,Music is my life. I think about it all day and I dream about music at night. I do not work as a musician 100% but i have stopped looking at music as a hobby a long time ago. This is a passion project, lifestyle and a calling. I may be a passionate musician’’ Says Guðmundur R.
Guðmundur writes his music from his own experience such as other people’s life experiences. He says he always treats each story with respect and seeks out approval from those involved in the story that had a part in the inspiration of his lyrics.
,,When I start working on an album I usually have twice as many songs as I’m gonna need. You can say that I write songs for 2 albums before I started the release. I started learning to play the piano in the pandemic and I wrote a few songs on this album that way. In the past I have usually started my writing process with a guitar in hand and started the progress in my home studio. Me and Jón Ólafs recording director then picked the songs together for the album.
Some stay and some go, sometimes new ones are added. When we put songs aside it’s not because they suck, but maybe they just don’t come out exactly right or that they don’t fit the mood of the album. These days I have a lot of songs on the side, maybe I’ll release them later.. Who knows?’’ Guðmundur R.
It is safe to say that many stories live inside of his music and lyrics and we recommend that every person listens and allows his lyrics to tell the stories that may be hidden.
You can follow Guðmundur and his adventures on his social mediahere.
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