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CD
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MORR 173CD
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After a hiatus of 12 years -- Seabear's most "recent" LP dates back to 2010 -- the much-loved Icelandic collective presents In Another Life, a mesmerizing collection of songs, oscillating between indie pop and classic singer-songwriter material. Sometimes, a long break is all it takes. Seabear, the band featuring the talents of Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir, Halldór Ragnarsson, Kjartan Bragi Bjarnason, Örn Ingi Ágústsson, Sindri Már Sigfússon (aka Sin Fang), and Sóley Stefánsdóttir (aka Sóley), did exactly that. Producing an album takes up a lot of energy. "We had all focused on other projects," Kjartan Bragi explains. "Solo careers, playing with other projects, other forms of art, working 'normal' jobs to make a living etc. It's nice to finally come together again with old friends and make music." During the break, music has been an integral part of the members' daily lives. Sóley started a remarkable solo career, as did Sindri, under the name of Sin Fang, while Guðbjörg worked with Sigur Rós. However, all this was made possible by the disarming folk music of their 2007 debut LP The Ghost That Carried Us Away (MORR 076CD, 2007). "We stayed in touch all along," adds Sindri. "During dinners etc. one question came up again and again: What would Seabear sound like today?" Now, in 2022, the band is ready to set a mark in the musical landscape once again -- with 11 new songs coming straight from the heart, aimed at all who value emotions, the warmth and intimacy of songwriting, big yet subtle soundscapes, capturing the smallest tones and feelings. The songs on In Another Life sound and come across like a musical diary of sorts. A diary found by accident, split across 11 records, without any further info and all details scratched out. There is just the music to speak for itself. Even if you are familiar with Seabear's previous music: the opener "Parade" will make you wonder who came up with this wonderful tune, full of assuring harmonies, delicate melodies and compositional surprises. Seabear once more are delivering the perfect soundtrack for all kinds of emotional states. With driving yet subtle drums, intimate, yet fleeting vocals and lyrics, an orchestral sense of production, emphasizing small details rather than counting on the big "studio bang". In Another Life indeed feels like the start of a new chapter. Full of hope. And hopefully, all Seabear fans won't have to wait as long anymore in the future.
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LP
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MORR 173LP
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LP version. Includes inner sleeve and download code. After a hiatus of 12 years -- Seabear's most "recent" LP dates back to 2010 -- the much-loved Icelandic collective presents In Another Life, a mesmerizing collection of songs, oscillating between indie pop and classic singer-songwriter material. Sometimes, a long break is all it takes. Seabear, the band featuring the talents of Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir, Halldór Ragnarsson, Kjartan Bragi Bjarnason, Örn Ingi Ágústsson, Sindri Már Sigfússon (aka Sin Fang), and Sóley Stefánsdóttir (aka Sóley), did exactly that. Producing an album takes up a lot of energy. "We had all focused on other projects," Kjartan Bragi explains. "Solo careers, playing with other projects, other forms of art, working 'normal' jobs to make a living etc. It's nice to finally come together again with old friends and make music." During the break, music has been an integral part of the members' daily lives. Sóley started a remarkable solo career, as did Sindri, under the name of Sin Fang, while Guðbjörg worked with Sigur Rós. However, all this was made possible by the disarming folk music of their 2007 debut LP The Ghost That Carried Us Away (MORR 076CD, 2007). "We stayed in touch all along," adds Sindri. "During dinners etc. one question came up again and again: What would Seabear sound like today?" Now, in 2022, the band is ready to set a mark in the musical landscape once again -- with 11 new songs coming straight from the heart, aimed at all who value emotions, the warmth and intimacy of songwriting, big yet subtle soundscapes, capturing the smallest tones and feelings. The songs on In Another Life sound and come across like a musical diary of sorts. A diary found by accident, split across 11 records, without any further info and all details scratched out. There is just the music to speak for itself. Even if you are familiar with Seabear's previous music: the opener "Parade" will make you wonder who came up with this wonderful tune, full of assuring harmonies, delicate melodies and compositional surprises. Seabear once more are delivering the perfect soundtrack for all kinds of emotional states. With driving yet subtle drums, intimate, yet fleeting vocals and lyrics, an orchestral sense of production, emphasizing small details rather than counting on the big "studio bang". In Another Life indeed feels like the start of a new chapter. Full of hope. And hopefully, all Seabear fans won't have to wait as long anymore in the future.
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LP
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SHAKE 006LP
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Vinyl release. Released in conjunction with their second album We Built A Fire (MORR 097CD/CD-LTD/LP), While The Fire Dies EP brings you the vinyl version of the six tracks that are on CD2 of the limited 2CD version of the We Built A Fire album (MORR 097CD-LTD). Seabear started as the solo-project of Sindri Már Sigfússon (aka Sin Fang Bous) and meanwhile has become a creative collective of seven Icelandic musicians. While the album showcases Seabear's wide range of styles and influences from indie-rock to intense balladry, the While The Fire Dies EP focuses more on the band's folky and laid-back side. The country-esque uptempo opener "Pocket Knife" is followed by alternate acoustic versions of the Seabear classics "Arms" and "Singing Arc" as well as the perfect Seabear-ballad "Bright House." After a short country twang interlude ("Leafmask II"), this EP ends with "Doctor," a string-dominated elegy and a perfect epilogue to both: album and EP.
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2CD
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MORR 097CD-LTD
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Limited version with 6-track bonus CD EP, While The Fire Dies.
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CD
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MORR 097CD
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This is the second full-length album by Iceland's Seabear. Defying its humble beginnings as the lo-fi solo project of singer/multi-instrumentalist Sindri Már Sigfússon, Seabear has morphed into a rambling experimental/indie/folk septet. Joining Sigfússon (whose unassisted musings are now released via his Sin Fang Bous moniker, which just made Rolling Stone call him the "Icelandic Beck") are Gudbjörg Hlin Gudmundsdottir, Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir, Halldór Ragnarsson, Örn Ingi Ágústsson, Kjartan Bragi Bjarnason and Sóley Stefánsdóttir -- all working in a wide range of solo-, band- (Kimono, Skakkamanage) and visual art projects in their own right. For We Built A Fire, all members of the band had equal input in the writing process, thereby creating Seabear's first real collective album. While Sigfússon's unmistakable voice remains the centerpiece, the new joint approach is reflected in songs like "I'll Build You A Fire," where the whole band joins in on vocals. While retaining their signature simplistic and addictive naive indie-folk, the band have branched out stylistically to include elements of straight-up indie rock, intense balladry and even some country twang. There is something instantly familiar about Seabear's songs that resonates with fans and critics alike. Despite scant promotion and airplay behind their debut album release, 2007's The Ghost That Carried Us Away (MORR 076CD), their songs and animated videos were a social media hit generating millions of plays. It's a very Icelandic DIY setup -- their music is recorded by the band in their basement studio with its apple carton-covered walls. All artwork and videos are hand-made by Sindri's partner and band mate Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir.
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LP
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MORR 097LP
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Deluxe gatefold LP version.
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7"
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ANOST 021EP
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This is the first single from the second Seabear album, We Built A Fire. While "Lion Face Boy" features the classic Seabear indie-folk-virtues, the flipside "Cold Summer" surprises with an intense and unsettling ballad that breaks new territory. Seabear started out as a one-man project of singer/guitarist Sindri Már Sigfússon, but grew into today's collective of 7 Icelanders with their debut album The Ghost That Carried Us Away (ANOST 014LP/MORR 076CD) in 2007.
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LP
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ANOST 014LP
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2022 repress. Includes download code; edition of 300. Originally released by Morr Music in 2007. This is the debut release by Iceland's Seabear. The Ghost That Carried Us Away flatters in a rather unobtrusive way: fragile hymns of nonchalant casualness, created by Sindri Már Sigfússon. Guitars, piano, his almost bashful and yet present voice -- themes of nature, mortality and love from Iceland's musical heartland, Reykjavik. There's a violinist with her voice in the clouds, Gudbjörg Hlin Gudmundsdóttir (violin, vocals, harmonica) and Orn (guitar, lapsteel). Other members include Eiki, Orvar, Gudni and Dóri: one plays the flugelhorn, the slide-guitar and upright-bass, one belongs to the live line-up of Sigur Rós and another is part of the sensational Múm. Some are stage members of Benni Hemm Hemm's band. Sigfusson invited them into his small studio, placed them in front of the only microphone and let them think about his musical thoughts. He likes the notion and the feeling of lo-fi, and for the recording of the drums, only three microphones were used. The result is reminiscent of the reduced stereo recordings of the 1960s. "Libraries" is tiny and gigantic, unobtrusive and exciting at the same time -- a song like blinking into the most beautiful sunrise. A tumbling piano, swinging drums and melancholy melodies. "Hands Remember" includes murmuring vocals and two violins. In "Summer Bird Diamond," birds twitter to the sounds of an old banjo and glockenspiel. It is almost like a chamber folk radio play. And "Seashell" at last, is a pocket symphony, arranged around jumping drums.
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CD
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MORR 076CD
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This is the debut release by Iceland's Seabear. The Ghost That Carried Us Away flatters in a rather unobtrusive way: fragile hymns of nonchalant casualness, created by the 24-year-old Sindri Már Sigfússon. Guitars, piano, his almost bashful and yet present voice -- themes of nature, mortality and love from Iceland's musical heartland, Reykjavik. There's a violinist with her voice in the clouds, Gudbjörg Hlin Gudmundsdóttir (violin, vocals, harmonica) and Orn (guitar, lapsteel). Other members include Eiki, Orvar, Gudni and Dóri: one plays the flugelhorn, the slide-guitar and upright-bass, one belongs to the live line-up of Sigur Rós and another is part of the sensational Múm. Some are stage members of Benni Hemm Hemm's band -- the other Icelandic artist on Morr music. Sigfusson invited them into his small studio, placed them in front of the only microphone and let them think about his musical thoughts. He likes the notion and the feeling of lo-fi, and for the recording of the drums, only three microphones were used. The result is reminiscent of the reduced stereo recordings of the 1960s. "Libraries" is tiny and gigantic, unobtrusive and exciting at the same time -- a song like blinking into the most beautiful sunrise. A tumbling piano, swinging drums and melancholy melodies. "Hands Remember" includes murmuring vocals and two violins. In "Summer Bird Diamond," birds twitter to the sounds of an old banjo and glockenspiel. It is almost like a chamber folk radio play. And "Seashell" at last, is a pocket symphony, arranged around jumping drums.
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