Seabear

All Music Guide:

Although initially the solo project of Sindri Már Sigfússon, Seabear had morphed into a seven-piece band by 2007, when the group made its full-length debut with Ghost That Carried Us Away. Sigfússon filled his lineup with a number of fellow Icelandic songwriters -- Gudbjörg Hlin Gudmundsdottir, Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir, Halldór Ragnarsson, Örn Ingi Ágústsson, Kjartan Bragi Bjarnason, and Sóley Stefánsdóttir -- and the group’s hushed, folksy music began finding an international audience in 2008, when the song “Cat Piano” was featured in an episode of Gossip Girl. Although Sigfússon also devoted time to his own solo work (which he released under the alias Sin Fang Bous), Seabear continued gathering momentum during the following years, and 2010 found the group launching its first American tour and releasing its second album, We Built a Fire.

Wikipedia:

Seabear is an Icelandic seven-piece indie-folk band from Reykjavík. Although hailing from Iceland, they sing primarily in English. They are signed to the Morr Music record label.

Contents

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

Seabear started as a one-man project of Sindri Már Sigfússon in 2003. Performing for some time as a trio from 2005, the band grew to seven pieces in 2006. Other members of Seabear are Halldór (Klúbba-Dóri) Ragnarsson, Örn Ingi, Sóley Stefánsdóttir, Kjartan Bragi Bjarnason, Guðbjörg Hlín and Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir.

The Ghost That Carried Us Away (2007)[edit]

In 2007 Seabear released its debut album, The Ghost That Carried Us Away, on Morr Music.

We Built a Fire (2010)[edit]

Its second LP, We Built a Fire, was released in March 2010. The band's music has been described as "Sufjan Stevens meets an unplugged Arcade Fire" by Clash. Sindri Már Sigfússon has been called the "Icelandic Beck" by Rolling Stone. Its best known song is "I Sing I Swim". It featured on Grey's Anatomy in 2010, and the video for the song has been viewed more than 1,400,000 times on YouTube. The song "Cold Summer", from We Built a Fire, was used in the closing scene of Episode 617 of Grey's Anatomy. The song "Cat Piano", from The Ghost That Carried Us Away, was featured in a BBC advert for Finding Neverland, as well as on Gossip Girl in 2008 (Season 2, Episode 2). The band has toured Europe and the U.S. and played numerous festivals.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

Other projects[edit]

All members of Seabear have other musical and visual art projects. In 2008, Ingibjörg stopped playing live with the band in order to concentrate on her career as a visual artist. In 2008, Sindri released his solo album Clangour under the name Sin Fang Bous; in 2011 he released his second solo album, Summer Echoes, and shortened his stage name to Sin Fang. Sóley is signed as a soloist to Morr Music. Kjartan is in a band called Kimono that has released three albums on Smekkleysa Records, a label founded by the The Sugarcubes. Dóri is a visual artist and was a member of Kimono from 2001–2007, releasing two albums with the band. He is also a member of Mr. Silla, which includes members of Kimono, Múm and Amiina. Örn Ingi plays in the band Skakkamanage. Inga and Sindri are also visual artists and, like Dóri, they have exhibited in solo and group shows in Iceland and abroad. Guðbjörg toured with Sigur Rós during their 2012 and 2013 live shows, as part of the Okkr Ensemble.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).