Emiliana Torrini

Country of origin:

Iceland

Type of music generally:

Ectronica, alternative pop

Status:

Most recent release, Fisherman's Woman, 2005

See also:

Emiliana Torrini's site

A fan site

Comparisons:

Her vocals remind me of a cross between Björk and Beth Gibbons from Portishead...very cool music too. I'd recommend her to any Björk/Portishead fan. (sgriffes@umich.edu)

Covers/own material:

Own

General comments:

Emiliana is from Iceland, and is the voice singing "Gollum's Song" during the closing credits of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. (candre@enteract.com)

Emiliana Torrini is only part Icelandic, hence her Italian sounding name. She's a female singer-songwriter, for lack of a better title, and not that dissimilar to Björk vocally, but more accessible music wise. (robettridge@hotmail.com)

Recommended first album:

Love in the Time of Science for ectronica fans; Fisherman's Woman for fans of quieter, acoustic music

Recordings:

• Love in the Time of Science (1999)
• Fisherman's Woman (2005)

Love in the Time of Science

Release info:

1999--One Little Indian Records--34 Trinity Crescent, London SW17 7AE, UK

Availability:

Wide

Ecto priority:

Highly recommended

Group members:

Emiliana Torrini

Guest artists:

Siggi Baldursson--drums, percussion (3, 7, 9)
Clive Deamer--drums, percussion (3)
Roland Orzabal--programming, keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
Alan Griffiths, Eg White, Mark O'Donoughue--programming, keyboards, guitar
Johann G. Johannsson--keyboard (8)

Produced by:

Roland Orzabal and Alan Griffiths

Comments:

Let me add to the emerging voices who recommend Emiliana Torrini. Her Love in the time of science was one of my top 3 albums of last year. The CD player software that I use at work tells me that I've played this album 22 times (and I still love it :) Check her out if you have the chance! (klaus.kluge@gmx.de)

a veritable Musical Orgasm. (johnny.reece@virgin.net)

Love in the time of science is quite nice. Everyone calls her Björklite basically because she is from Iceland and has the same accent as Björk. She's constantly bugged by this and in interviews her response is usually "you know, if you go to Iceland you will find that there is a whole country who has my accent." Though she definitely has a bit of a Björk feel in her voice, and the electronic bleeps are all over her album, she does tend to avoid the histrionics and drama of Björk which either irritate or make you love Björk. I happen to love the drama, but find that Emiliana is quite a nice relief. The album is produced by Roland Orzabal--the guy behind Tears for Fears, so that should give you an idea of what it sounds like. A mix of latter-day Tears for Fears and Björk. (iflin@speakeasy.net)

Debut album of the 21-year old daughter of an Icelandic woman and an Italian. Roland Orzabal and Alan Griffiths from Tears for Fears produced the album, played most of the instruments and wrote two of the songs. Emiliana sounds like Björk in her (Björk's) quieter songs. (Dirk.Kastens@rz.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE)

Another 1999 album found in 2000 that should have made last year's best-of]list. (Gordoja@aol.com)

Icelandic, and vocally reminiscent of Björk...sometimes disconcertingly so. No matter, there are a whole stack of beautiful tracks on offer...with some utterly gorgeous tunes. (jason.maloney@virgin.net)

Fisherman's Woman

Release info:

2005--Rough Trade Records--RTA30055-2

Availability:

Wide

Ecto priority:

Highly recommended

Group members:

Emiliana Torrini--vocals, bellows, creaks, korg

Guest artists:

Dan Carey--guitars, organ, pedal steel, Wurlitzer, bass, melodica, piano, glockenspiel, shakers, tabla, bazooki
Julian Joseph--piano
Samuli Koskinen--drums, percussion
Pharoah S. Russell--drums (8)

Produced by:

Dan Carey

Comments:

Fisherman's Woman is very good. Acoustic, almost delicate. Her voice is reminiscent of Björk's in a broken-bird sort of way. (I know she's always getting those comparisons because they're both from Iceland, but her voice really has always reminded me of Björk's.) Musically, though, there's no comparison, unlike Emiliana's debut, Love in the Time of Science, which very strongly reminded me of Björk. Here the mood is like a walk outside on an early autumn day. Or maybe it's just the artwork that makes me think of that. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Fisherman's Woman is more acoustic but still excellent. (paul2k@aol.com)

Further info:

Thanks to JoAnn Whetsell for her work on this entry.

Artists from Iceland

	Bellatrix
	Björk
	Sigur Rós
	Emiliana Torrini
	Worm is Green

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