INTERVIEW: Iceland's Salóme Katrín, RAKEL and ZAAR team up on collaborative album 'While We Wait'

Icelandic singers Salóme Katrín, RAKEL and ZAAR have recently released their split album While We Wait.

First meeting in Reykjavik in 2018 while studying music, they all launched their own solo careers in the following years, attracting solid fanbases with their warm, alt-indie-pop music. Having featured on each others’ releases and performance over the years they decided to go one step further and create an album together.

Recorded in Reykjavik in mid-2021 by their friend Hafsteinn Þráinsson, the album features two tracks from each singer plus the collaborative title track. It is an album that is an intriguing listen, with the subtle differences in each artists soundscapes combining to create a cohesive whole. Katrín’s contribution leans more towards a harder, indie-rock vibe, with Zaar’s two tracks more stripped back, experimental with an electronic influence. Closing the album, Rakel’s two tracks are quieter, dreamy indie-pop ballads. It is music you want to return to time and time again.

Icelandic artists have for many years proven to be some of the most creative, experimental and enjoyable musicians in the industry and While We Wait is the perfect opportunity to discover three more. We recently caught with with Salóme, Rakel and Zaar to find out more about their careers and the creation of the album.

Hi Salóme, Rakel and Zaar, so lovely to chat to you and congratulations on the release of the album While We Wait. Where did the idea for a collaborative album come from?
Salóme: The idea grew from a concert/live stream we did at Mengi, a small venue in Reykjavík in 2020. It was at the height of the first COVID panic and the three of us were feeling a little desperate to do something…anything! And it turned out great!  So well that our friends encouraged us to explore this collaboration further  - and so we did! All of us released our debut EPs quite recently, and we were sort of looking for a way to release more music without being alone in it… that part’s fun, but it can be a little taxing so, this was the perfect solution! I very much feel like it was all meant to be. 

How did the three of you first meet?
Rakel: The three of us met while all studying music here in Reykjavík. Sara had just arrived in Iceland as an exchange student, we met on the first day of that semester and have all been pretty much inseparable since. 

Was there a particular message or ‘feeling’ you all wanted to portray with this album?
Zaar: While We Wait is a very special project to all of us. It gave us a platform to invent and explore our sound as we didn’t feel weighed down by our own expectations. Working together brought a sense of safety and creative freedom which we will forever treasure. We made the album in a time where covid had all our plans either canceled or on hold so the theme of the title track quickly turned into exploring our state of mind at that moment - waiting, hoping, longing - as well as our basic needs as human beings

Can you talk me through the inspiration for the two solo tracks you contributed to the album?
Salóme: My two songs were written long before the idea of a collaborative album even came about. ‘Dive in at the Deep End’ was written in complete contrast to my debut EP, Water. I was sick of piano and sad songs, and I had this anger within that I had never managed to express fully until writing this song. 

‘The Other Side’ is inspired by a lot of the music I listened to as a teenager while living in Ísafjörður (population: 2500). Guitar-driven indie music that had me dreaming of being in a band and touring the world.

Rakel: I wrote both ‘Something’ and ‘When You Wake Up’ around a similar time in the spring of 2021. I had had a pretty long dry period creatively and the decision of making the split album gave me a little push. I wrote both of them in my bedroom on this electric guitar that I had borrowed from my friend. I didn’t have an amplifier in my apartment at the time, so it was a pretty quiet setting. ‘Something’ is a song about the loud feelings of a new love, but also about this state of not feeling ready to express them. I wanted to somehow try to evoke that in the soundscape of the song. Out of that came the closest thing to a rock song that I’ve created.

‘When You Wake Up’ is a little song about friendship. I just felt like making a song for my friends, just a little reminder that I’m here for them if they need a hug or a laugh or lasagna. I got my sister, Jóhanna, to play the flute on the song. It’s our first time recording together in a studio and I’m so happy she was up for it. 

Zaar: ‘Organize’ is written as motherly advice for the times when you feel far away from home. ‘Organize (organ version)’ is just one of many versions that exist of the song, but the organ version means something special to me. It reflects the time when I had just moved back to Reykjavik from Denmark, living at friends' places and different hostels, having no home and feeling my roots had been scattered. Only having access to an electric organ in this unrooted time allowed me to find home in the scarcity of sound.

The working title for ‘(Don’t Mourn) The time You’ve Been Gone’ was ‘I Wish There Was an Easy Way For Forgiveness’ which was the inspiration theme for the song. I guess it was written as a song about forgiving yourself for the times you haven’t been able to participate in the world (mental health issues, sickness, heartbreaks, covid-19).

You all feature on the title track ‘While We Wait’. It has this beautiful, dreamy, almost other-worldly feel to it. What were your intentions when you set out to create this track?
Zaar: Thank you so much! The song is our very own little orchestra - where we explore and cultivate our surroundings, musically, emotionally and intellectually. We sing in unison - we move as one, three voices joined by our love for each other and each other's music. We describe the track, ‘While We Wait’, as an opening into the world we’ve crafted for one another, a place for creation, exploration and joy, a place where everything is possible by merely using the tools we had nearest at each given moment - an old guitar, a dear friend who plays the accordion, an electric organ or simply the sound of our own voices.

How did the creative process differ for you, if at all, creating an album as a ‘group’ as opposed to creating it as a solo artist?
Salóme: It was a dream to have each others’ support while recording the album. There was a deep sense of safety, freedom and understanding in the studio, so the whole process happened quite organically in a flow of friendship and love. Being a group also gives you more leeway as an individual to feel under the weather or not know completely what you want all the time. There’s always a friend there to confide in which, in my opinion, is one of the most precious things to have during a creative process.

I believe you recorded the album in a week, can you tell me a little more about the process behind the recording sessions?
Rakel: Yes, the plan was to go into the process full force, record the album in one week, mix, master and then just release it quickly after. We managed to record the album in a week but since then some time has passed and now almost a year later, the album is coming out. The recording process was really fun and empowering. We went into this wanting to explore new soundscapes individually as well as together and create a platform where we could feel free to try out new things with the support of each other’s friendship and energy. It was really important for us to all be in the studio during the process of recording all the songs, give feedback and support each other. 

As you mentioned, the album was recorded in 2021, how did the pandemic affect you as an artist and a creative being, and how are you feeling now with opportunities opening up for artists to perform live again?
Zaar: I would say one of the most obvious affects the pandemic had on us is the lack of concerts and culture in general. The worst affect it had on me personally was how distant it made me feel to myself, since one the biggest part of my identity had been taken away from me. This project with my dearest friends put me in a creative mode and gave me something to work towards and look forward to. Hopefully people are craving going to concerts as much as artists are to perform them.

Who are the artists that inspire you, both growing up as a child and today as an artist yourself?
Salóme: There are so many artists that have inspired me throughout my life. If I were to write all of them down this would be a VERY long list but here are some of the ones that are close to my heart. Kate Bush has inspired me endlessly. Ólöf Arnalds, Aldous Harding, Feist, Rostam, Regina Spektor, Adrienne Lenker, Mitski, Courtney Barnett, Angel Olsen, Agnes Obel, Hildur Guðna, The Shins, Joanna Newsom, MGMT… and Björk, of course.

Iceland has a history of producing really creative, ground breaking artists. Who are some Icelandic acts you recommend we should all listen to?
The grassroots scene here is really interesting at the moment and has been for some time now. Supersport!, BSÍ, K.óla and Sideproject, to name a few. I also recommend keeping an eye out for final boss type zero.

What else is on the agenda for you all in 2022?
Salóme: I have some live performances planned with Rakel and Sara, which I’m very excited about! After that it’s anyone’s guess. As The Sugarcubes used to say:  World domination or death! 

Rakel: 2022 is feeling like an exciting year with plans for more live performances than in the last two years combined. We are going to start by celebrating the release of While We Wait, by going on a little tour around Iceland and visit mine and Salóme’s hometowns. I’ll also be working on my next album this year which I’m really excited about, continuing exploring my sound and working with some new people as well as old friends! 

Zaar: I’m just looking forward to the opportunities that the re-opening of the world has provided. I have some exciting music related projects coming up in the spring, that includes going to Greenland. I’m also planning on releasing my EP It’s Always Nice To Be Wanted.

While We Wait is out now. You can stream here with a vinyl release due soon.

To keep up with all things Salóme Katrín you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Spotify.

To keep up with all things Rakel you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Spotify.

To keep up with all things Zaar you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Spotify.

Album cover features of photograph of a sculpture by Auður Lóa