Icelandic singer-songwriter Ásgeir returns with “Smoke,” the emotive second single from his upcoming album Julia, set for launch in February 2026. The monitor, that includes reside band recordings layered with pump organ, delves into themes of misplaced inside voices and self-reflection, central to the album’s narrative. With Julia, Ásgeir steps into solely self-written lyrics for the primary time, providing listeners a deeply private and contemplative musical journey.
A press launch from Ásgeir’s administration revealed that “Smoke” is out now, alongside a stripped-back live session video that provides an intimate, candid glimpse backstage, the place the association stays minimal, letting the melancholy and the ache of disconnect shine by means of.
Watch “Smoke”:
Julia, the upcoming album, now out there for pre-order–sees Ásgeir coming into intriguing and uncharted territory: for the primary time in his lengthy and celebrated profession, he penned the album solely himself, after years of primarily utilizing the poetry of his father (Einar Georg Einarsson) and buddy (Júlíus Aðalsteinn Róbertssonas) as his lyrics, and fascinating translators similar to John Grant. The result’s a deeply contemplative physique of labor, steeped in nostalgia, which sees him meditating on previous regrets in addition to hopes for the longer term, guided by the spectre of the album’s title character. ”Julia is about shedding my approach, and the battle to search out it once more. Once I was deciding on a reputation for the album, this shapeshifting determine stood out as some type of throughline for the songs,” Ásgeir explains. “Julia is the namesake fictional character of one of many LP’s songs, however she additionally takes on totally different types all through the document: an inside voice, a guiding motherly voice, a ghost, generally even an ex-girlfriend.”
Pre-order Julia:
Ásgeir has lengthy been lauded for his intricate folk-pop, lush manufacturing, and wistful, emotive falsetto. Julia marks a shift towards not simply lyrical self-reliance, however cathartic directness–songs that really feel each exquisitely carried out and comfortably lived in. “This was type of the primary time I used to be writing lyrics completely alone,” he shares. “It was scary. I’m nonetheless looking for myself inside that. However I attempted to open myself up and I realized lots by means of that course of, and it was undoubtedly therapeutic for me.”
This new sense of vulnerability threads by means of the album’s ten tracks, written and recorded over the course of practically two years. The manufacturing, co-developed with longtime collaborator Guðm. “Kiddi” Kristinn Jónsson, stays natural and understated, permitting Ásgeir’s voice–most significantly his voice as a author–to come back ahead. All through Julia, Ásgeir revisits the previous with an unflinching eye, sharing moments of self-reflection, self-reclamation, disconnection, relationships, growing older, and hope.
These recordings mirror the spirit of Ásgeir’s latest return to solo touring, over 70 reveals throughout Europe, the Nordics and Iceland, typically in small church buildings or quiet venues. These performances reconnected him with the core of his music; storytelling, presence and shared stillness. Musically, the document leans into Ásgeir’s long-held love of folks and Americana. He cites influences starting from Daniel Lanois, Leonard Cohen, and Nick Drake to modern artists like Adrianne Lenker, Dina Ögon, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Saya Grey.
One in every of Iceland’s most profitable exports, Ásgeir’s first album Dýrð í dauðaþögn grew to become the best-selling debut in Icelandic historical past, resulting in 2014’s English-language model, Within the Silence. He continued to refine his sound throughout 2017’s Afterglow, 2020’s Bury the Moon, and 2022’s Time on My Palms–incomes reward from press and radio worldwide, together with NPR’s All Issues Thought of, NPR Music (Tiny Desk, All Songs Thought of), Esquire, WNYC’s Soundcheck, The Impartial, MOJO, NME, The Line of Greatest Match, Conflict Journal, BBC 6 Music, and Radio X.
Followers of Ásgeir can immerse themselves within the intimate world of Julia by pre-ordering the album and watching the stripped-back reside session for “Smoke.” With its heartfelt lyrics and evocative instrumentation, the album guarantees a deeply private listening expertise. Keep related by means of Ásgeir’s social channels and streaming platforms to comply with his upcoming tour dates and be among the many first to expertise his newest work reside.
Ásgeir Tour Dates:
10/22 – Tampere, FI – Tavara Asema
10/24 – Gothenburg, SE – Filmstudion
10/25 – Stockholm, SE – Fållan
10/26 – Oslo, NO – Sentrum Scene
11/17 – Mexico Metropolis, MX – Foro Indie Rocks (Nordic Showcase)
11/19 – Mexico Metropolis, MX – Foro Indie Rocks (Nordic Showcase)
11/22 – Mexico Metropolis, MX – Foro Indie Rocks (Nordic Showcase)
12/8 – Vík, IS – Vík i Myrdal Church
12/9 – Vestmannaeyjabær, IS – Landa Church
12/10 – Hvolsvöllur, IS – Midgard Restaurant & Bar
12/12 – Garður, IS – Útskálakirkja
12/13 – Borgarnes, IS – Bæjarkirkja
12/14 – Hvammstangi, IS – Hvammstangakirkja
12/16 – Sauðárkrókur, IS – Sauðárkrókskirkja
12/17 – Reykjahlíð, IS – Reykjahlíðarkirkja
12/18 – Akureyri, IS – Græni hatturinn