Like most festivals, Iceland Airwaves made its actual deal return in 2022. After an tried comeback in 2021 was curtailed by ongoing COVID issues, this yr marked the pageant scaling again up its regular measurement — a couple of nights unfold amongst venues throughout Reykjavik, showcasing Icelandic artists alongside worldwide expertise, offered out in a metropolis already thronged with vacationers.
At the identical time, it was one of many smaller iterations of Airwaves. Over the years, the pageant has repeatedly expanded and contracted, with some installments having headliners just like the Flaming Lips and others specializing in rising acts from internationally and the native scene, leaning extra on discovery. The 2022 model of Airwaves trended in the direction of the latter, eschewing a number of the greater productions of previous years for many packed, sweaty membership gigs.
At this level, there are specific Icelandic acts which are a core, recurring a part of the Airwaves expertise, and that didn’t change in 2022. On the pageant’s first evening, Kaktus Einarsson introduced his 2020 solo materials to Gamla BÃó. When I first began coming to Airwaves, in 2014, Einarsson’s band Fufanu have been younger post-punk upstarts. Years later, he reappeared with a big band that carried him via wiry, shape-shifting songs that usually showcased a mellower aspect of his songwriting.