Photo by Philip Brand for Grazia Croatia
bio
Sunna Margrét’s chopped up sound arrangements layered with her soothing elf-like vocals bring the listener on a fairytale voyage. Her music lands somewhere in between experimental and left-field pop. 2023 sees the release of her EP Five Songs for Swimming.
She cut her teeth in 2010 touring all over the world with a lauded electro-pop outfit when she was still in her teens. In 2017, the Icelandic artist rises as an autonomous songwriter and twists her original vocal instrument with trip hop psychedelic sounds tempered with experimental and emotive lyrics to navigate new serpentine musical waters. She keeps expanding the field of performance with instruments and poetry reading along strong downtempo rhythms.
In 2018 her single Amma is featured in the Wire Tapper and 2019 sees the release of her EP Art of History that receives the annual Kraumur Award and is nominated twice at the Iceland Music Awards in electronic music category.
She studied music and art in Iceland and later obtained her bachelor's and master's degree from ECAL in Fine Arts. She’s a multidisciplinary artist, her work encompassing sound, music, performance, installation, sculpture, and video.
The Line of Best Fit
“At a time when many of her Icelandic peers strive to fill space from the get-go with attitude but end up sounding bombastic, Sunna delivers a euphoric tune that begs to be played on repeat, hinting at greater things to come.”
Ja Ja Ja Music
"Built from enigmatic lyrics circling around an Alice In Wonderland echoing mysterious drink, it’s poised between heavy beats and a delicate riff, and all that comes together in a track that doesn’t sound like too much else out there right now. It’s got a gravitational pull-level of strange appeal, and is so compelling that it’s hard to stay away from the replay button.”
Selected Press
2023
- Rás 2 (IS)
- Morgunblaðið (IS)
2022
Sækir innblástur í mannleg samskipti
- Fréttablaðið (IS)
2020
Sunna Margrét et la flèche du temps
- Le Temps (CH)
L’ECAL organise sa teuf musicale de Noël sur le web
- 24 heures (CH)
SUNNA MARGRÉT :: ART OF HISTORY (RECENZJA)
- Stacja Islandia (PL)
2019
Fyrsta eintakinu stolið en fannst svo í ruslinu
- Fréttablaðið (IS)
Icelandic experimental singer and visual artist Sunna Margrét releases “Art of History”
- The Line of Best Fit (UK)
2018
-The Wire (UK)
2017
Another World Onstage: Sunna Is Rising
- The Reykjavik Grapevine (IS/EN)
b. 1992 in Reykjavík
Lives and works in Lausanne
Education
MFA ECAL/Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne / 2020 - 2022
BFA ECAL/Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne / 2016 - 2019
Reykjavík School of Visual Arts / 2014 - 2016
FÍH Music School / 2007 - 2010
Releases
2023 / Five Songs for Swimming, EP, No Salad Records
2023 / Out of Breath, single, No Salad Records
2019 / Art of History, EP, Reykjavík Record Shop, No Salad Records
2018 / Amma, single, self release d
2018 / Amma (Remixes), EP, self released
2017 / Hero Slave, single, self released
2013 / Tracing Echoes - Bloodgroup, LP, Kölski, Sugarcane Recordings
2013 / Disquiet - Bloodgroup, EP, Sugarcane Recordings
Exhibitions
2023 / IN CORSA : I, Here in Distance, Sonnenstube Offspace, Lugano
2022 / The Music Chamber, artistic director Augustin Maurs, co-curator Catherine Othenin-Girard, artgenève/musique, Palexpo Geneva
2022 / Dayiyi II, curated by Makrout Unité, DuflonRacz, Brussels
2022 / Dayiyi II, curated by Makrout Unité, DuflonRacz, Bern
2019 / Le Tempo de Sunna, invited by Claire de Quénetain, La Placette, Lausanne
2019 / I Woke Up Sweating, in collaboration with Charly Mirambeau, curated by Paolo Baggi, Lokal-int, Bienne/Biel
2015 / ÏNDONESIAN LOVERS FROM OUTER SPACE ̈ , Gallerí Tukt, Reykjavík
Awards/Prices/Grants
2022 / Rannís Music Recording Fund / Hljóðritasjóður, Reykjavík, Iceland
2022 / STEF Recording Fund / Upptökusjóður, Reykjavík, Iceland
2020 / Kraumur Music Awards, Reykjavík, Iceland
2020 / Nominated for album of the year in electronic music category at the Iceland Music Awards, Reykjavík, Iceland
2020 / Nominated for song of the year in electronic music category at the Iceland Music Awards, Reykjavík, Iceland
2019 / Prix Ernest Manganel / Foundation Ernest Manganel for diploma project, Lausanne, Switzerland
2013 / Promotional Grant, Kraumur Music Fund, Reykjavík, Iceland