Aldís Fjóla is an Icelandic singer-songwriter who enjoys making 90s-inspired music and just released her latest EP entitled “Pipedreams”. The record is, for lack of a better term, different. It comprises six songs which I had the pleasure of listening to and analyzing.
1- Wasted
Right off the bat, you could smell the sense of Alt Rock guitars. If you grew up in the late 90s-early 2000s like me then you just can’t mistake these guitars and their sweet vibes. The surprising element for me was in the clarity of the production and how clean the tone of the guitar is, which although written in a grungy manner, in comparison to the bands it’s inspired by. Another surprise that was eye-opening for me was Aldís’s prominent use of chest voice with clear and loud belted notes. Her voice shows impeccable resonance and breath control and is very soulful. It’s as if you took the distortion out of Beth Hart’s dark timbre and mixed those techniques with a very soulful and modern-yet-familiar new sound. Her voice is one of those larger-than-life voices that you can hear over any riff and still be excited about, and her amazing tops it all off. The emotional vibes of the 90s are present all over the place too, especially with the strings solo that this song has.
2- Burn
This one is based around a riff that plays over a groovy bassline and thunderous drums. The vocal lines follow them in a very percussion-respecting manner- and we all know a good vocal melody is that which is written to respect the percussion of the track.
3- Rearview Mirror
This one has more of those low chest notes – Aldís is probably an alto which has a magical timbre to her voice. The bass line of this song reminds me of Type O Negative although it’s a bit brighter. The drums complement the bass line beautifully, and they both make the vocals sound a lot more emotional and danger/adrenaline-inducing. I love how the chorus feels like a big transition far from the verses when it’s actually very close and they fit with one another very well.
4- Pipedreams
This one begins with clean guitars and soul-grippingly emotional singing. The greatest gift Aldís has next to her amazing and dark voice timbre is her ability to sing softly with it and add emotional qualities with breathing and wailing. It’s the exact same reasons and techniques that made me fall in love with Amy Lee when I was a teenager. The strings have a big role in this song, and it goes to show that Aldís Fjóla and her band don’t care for genre restrictions or sounding like a specific era, despite being influenced by it.
5- Crossfire
This track begins with acoustic guitars and rimshots, making it sound as emotional and dramatic as Aldís’s voice. The chorus shows heavier guitars joining, and this is another testament to how these guys are masters of controlling the listener’s emotions and how they flow. There is another beautiful string solo here that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in their place for a few seconds, and that subsequently made the chorus after them more headbang-worthy and enjoyable to he heavy rock fan inside of me.
The sixth and final track is the Icelandic version of Track number 2, Burn, and it is a great way to introduce her fans to her native language. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to adequately divide the syllables of a different language into the vocal melodies of the same song. With the many challenges she and her band had, Aldís Fjóla delivered a lot more than what was promised and made a name for herself among masterful female powerhouse vocalists.
