Icelandic artist Sunna Margrét talks female pleasure & announces debut album Finger on Tongue due March 28th via No Salad Records
Sunna talks female pleasure with new single
‘Come With Me’ out today
BBC Radio 6, Radio X, The Wire, The Line of Best Fit, DMY, KEXP, Under The Radar, Soho Radio, The Kraumur Award, Iceland Music Awards and more!
Today Icelandic musician and visual artist Sunna Margrét announces her debut full-length album, Finger on Tongue, due out March 28th via No Salad Records and shares new single ‘Come With Me’, the second single to be shared from the debut album, premiered at Under The Radar.
'Come With Me', is a dance number bathed in synth pop and post-punk gimmicks, inspired by New Order, Depeche Mode and Peaches. “I wanted to dance, so I made upbeat music,” adds Sunna. It's a dreamlike duel between beat making and the musician's signature vocals. The track dives into the topic of female pleasure, inspired by women speaking out about their experiences of oppressive relationships and unmet needs in relationships “Mainly because in our culture men tend to ‘come first’ in every meaning of the word” adds Sunna. The new single comes with an accompanying video by Maria Esteves.
The album’s lead single, 'Chocolate,' released at the end of 2023, received praise from BBC Radio 6 Music presenters Jamz Supernova, Deb Grant & Tom Ravenscroft, Radcliffe & Maconie, Radio X’s John Kennedy, Simone Marie Butler on Soho Radio and The Line of Best Fit. Sunna Margrét's distinctive vocals lead this leftfield pop gem, blending pulsating beats and deep bass, evoking both melancholy and determination. It's a musical landscape where the essence of Jenny Hval and Celia Mancini converges.
Citing influences from krautrock legends CAN and Neu!, outsider synth pop artist The Space Lady and electronic music pioneers Suzanne Ciani and Eliane Radigue, Sunna’s forthcoming album Finger on Tongue is a masterclass in experimental pop.
Sunna’s musical career began when she was a teenager, she collaborated with renowned composer Ólafur Arnalds on the soundtrack for an Icelandic movie. Following their work together, Arnalds introduced her to celebrated electro-pop ensemble Bloodgroup, with whom she toured internationally and received widespread critical acclaim.
In the years following Sunna has released 3 solo EPs, including 2019’s Art of History, for which she was nominated for two Iceland Music Awards and honoured with the prestigious Kraumur Award (Iceland’s equivalent of The Mercury Prize).
Now Sunna Margrét returns, unveiling a profoundly personal album, crafted from the tapestry of motherhood, the embrace of a new Swiss home and the associated internal struggles. The album navigates between cross-cutting synth pop, reinvented trip hop, kraut and experimental inspirations. It was constructed in two phases, like day and night. The first phase evokes a period of renewal and liberated life, while the second tells of a counterpoint, the return of past visions and buried ghosts.
Finger on Tongue is an experimental electronic journey, weaving introspective lyrics and intricate soundscapes underpinned by her ethereal vocals. Co-produced partly with her friend and musical partner, Maxime Graf, the album balances moments of tranquillity with bursts of chaos, capturing an authentic Icelandic essence through its experimental electronic and spellbinding sounds. Some tracks offer softness and peace while others invite you to dance.
In addition to her musical endeavours, Sunna Margrét is an accomplished visual artist who frequently marries her music and art, creating immersive audio-visual installations that captivate the senses. She sees art as a form of resistance and this motivated her to co-found DIY label No Salad Records with her husband Stéphane Kropf. The label became a place for Margrét to foster her own artistic visions and collaborations, presenting artists from all over the world, across a multitude of genres including avant-garde, electronic and post-punk.