I’m not a huge lyrics guy, something which drives many of my fellow music-loving fans bonkers. It’s not that there aren’t hundreds of songs I can sing along to – I most certainly can (much to Mrs. Life in the Vinyl Lane’s shagrin). But for whatever reason I tend to hear the voice as an instrument first, so often I’m more focused on tone and cadence and pitch than I am on the actual words themselves. This is likely also why I’m very comfortable listening to songs sung in languages other than English, while many other people find this distracting and even disconcerting.
Nowhere is this more true than in hip hop, where vocal cadence is such a large part of defining an artist’s sound. And while a number of Icelandic singers and rappers have told me over the years that for them English is a much easier language than Icelandic when it comes to vocals, there is something about how Icelandic sounds when its used in hip hop. Even when spoken the language has a certain flow to my ears, an up and down pattern that lends itself to rapping, the voice adding another layer to the beats.
Which brings me to Kött Grá Pjé & Fonetik Simbol’s Dulræn Atferlismeðferð (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy per Google Translate). Released digitally in 2024, it got the 2xLP vinyl treatment earlier this year, and it sounds great.
Simbol’s production is evolved well beyond four-on-the-floor beats, flowing into dreamier territory and allowing Kött Grá Pjé’s vocals to provide the structure such as on the all-too-brief “Griðúngr”, the music flowing like a slow walk through nature in the early morning. This more left-field approach is prevalent on Dulræn Atferlismeðferð, but have no fear my beat-heads, these guys have you covered as well on tracks like “Dauði Með Köflum”, bouncing along like a lowrider with hydraulics. The overall vibe of the album comes together most cohesively on “Dulræn Atferlismeðferð”, jazz-like undercurrents with beats on top and a vocal flow that brings both the sonic parts together into symbiosis.
The album is available on streaming services and the vinyl can be found on Bandcamp HERE. It’s definitely a worthwhile addition to your collection.