.MUSiCiSLiFE!!!             .

OPENMUSiCASSOCiATiON
.. P R E S E N T S ..

FM Belfast - Don't Want To Sleep

ARTiST..[ FM Belfast
TiTLE...[ Don't Want To Sleep
GENRE...[ Electronic              GRABBER.[ EAC
LABEL...[ Morr Music              ENCODER.[ Lame 3.98.4
YEAR....[ 2011                    QUALiTY.[ avg. 234kbps
SOURCE..[ CDDA                    MODE....[ Joint-Stereo
PLAYTIME[ 36:15 min               REL.DATE[ 06.11.2011
TRACKS..[ 11                      RiPPER..[ TEAM OMA
SiZE....[ 61,0 MB                 SUPPLiER[ TEAM OMA

.. T R A C K  L i S T ..

NR. TRACK.                                             TiME.

01  FM Belfast - Stripes                              03:12
02  FM Belfast - American                             04:06
03  FM Belfast - Believe                              02:54
04  FM Belfast - Mondays                              03:14
05  FM Belfast - We fale                              02:33
06  FM Belfast - Noise                                03:37
07  FM Belfast - I don't want to go to sleep either   03:14
08  FM Belfast - Vertigo                              03:33
09  FM Belfast - In line                              04:00
10  FM Belfast - New year                             02:41
11  FM Belfast - Happy winter                         03:11

TOTAL: 36:15

.. R E L E A S E  N O T E S ..

FM Belfast is not really a band, it is a
community, a force, a friend. You should not
treat them as yet another buzzworty mp3
clamouring for your attention; you should
treat them as a potential friend or lover, a
welcome addition to your life that accepts you
for who you are, and wants you to be more of
it. Who are they, though?
For the past four years, Icelandic electropop
group FM Belfast have been perfecting the art
of reading an audience and connecting with it,
using their steadily growing skills to hone a
music that catches easily, yet runs deep; an
art of performing that can — and usually does
— induce unique and euphoric states in large
crowds of people, or just in your headphones.
It is harsh and technical, warm and embracing
and organic, thoughtful and giddy and cool and
inclusive.
Those who have ever seen them perform or
listened to their début, How To Make Friends,
can and will verify this. They will talk about
FM Belfast as if they were part of the band.
Which they are, really. For over two years
now, the group has travelled the world, making
friends, taking in experiences and sounds and
the world and one another. And now theyÂ’ve
funnelled it all into a new long player that
you need to hear.
It’s called “Don’t Want To Sleep” and it is a
logical conclusion to two years of making
friends and taking in experiences and sounds
and adventure. It is also a worthy successor
to their debut, a natural progression that
retains its predecessorÂ’s spirit and builds
upon it while exploring new territories. It
will carry their name further, yet ensure
their current friends keep them close to
heart.
FM BelfastsÂ’s is a carefree, light-hearted
empathy with balls and vigour, an almost
aggressively welcoming party.
ItÂ’s telling that the first thing couple rni
Rnar Hlö?versson and Lóa Hlín Hjálmt?sdóttir
did after forming a band — and their reason
for forming a band — was to write and record
the song “Lotus” to give it to their friends
for Christmas. Their next act was to add two
more friends to the mix, rni Vilhjálmsson and
rvar ?óreyjarson Smárason. Although these
four remain the core of FM Belfast, they will
often go as far as draft almost all of their
friends to the band; when circumstances allow
for it theyÂ’ll perform with a many as 25
people on stage.
The line-up complete, the band went on and
played some more shows and wrote some more
songs. They havenÂ’t really stopped since, the
only change being that their ever increasing
success has recently allowed them time to
focus exclusively on their music — even though
all of them have other talents and hobbies
that they pursue with a passion (Lóa is an
artist and sought after illustrator, rni
Rnar dabbles in electronics and hacking, rni
Vilhjálmsson is a burgeoning comedian and
rvar writes poetry and prose when not playing
football or performing with his other band,
mm).
On the basis of their combined experience,
imagination and skill, the group has managed
to craft a masterpiece with DonÂ’t Want To Go
To Sleep. The songs retain the bouncy and
joyful spirit of “How To Make Friends”, yet
veer off into territories that the band have
hitherto left unexplored. There are slow songs
and introspective ones; calm, drifting
meditations mixed with calls to arms and
potential dancefloor workouts. And lots of
fun, of course.
Tracks like the beautiful “Noise” and “We
Fall” depict serene dreamscapes that still
burst with power and rhythm. The understated
“Winter”, with its anxious bite and underlying
warmth, captures the essence of the
overpowering Icelandic winter in its
suffocating embrace. “Vertigo” entices and
enthrals, “American” bops, gallops and is
impossible not to sing along to.
It is rare that an album will make you want to
dance while possessing the ability to lull you
to sleep (youÂ’ll have dreams of dancing).
“Don’t Want To Sleep” is such an album, a
friend in early morning and late at night (and
on your coffee break).
“Don’t Want To Sleep” is out on Morr Music
(World) and Kimi Records (Iceland) in June.
The songs were written and recorded by FM
Belfast (guests include Retro StefsonÂ’s
Unnsteinn Manel, BorkoÂ’s Borko and mighty
trumpeter Eiríkur Orri lafsson), they were
produced and recorded by rni Rnar Hlö?
versson and mixed by Kristinn Sturluson,
Gunnar rn Tynes and rni Rnar Hlö?versson.
Helmut Erler mastered the thing at Dubplates &
Mastering, and the cover was designed by the
band and Bobby Brei?holt.
Haukur S. Magnusson

URL: http://www.fmbelfast.com/

.. G R O U P ..

MAiL:  [email protected]

The only thing that really matters is music!!!

.                 .. G R E E T S ..

FRiENDS / SiTEOPS / NUKENET
.                       RIP kHz                          .
.  .. !kb^faa  08.MARCH 2009 ..  .          .