Music reporter Jenn Wong talks Icelandic ballads and home-built robots with U.K. indie band yndi halda http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/events/9242/

There is a distinct feeling of wonder upon hearing yndi halda’s debut album “Enjoy Eternal Bliss” for the first time. It’s expansive, haunting and achingly expressive. The impressive range of instruments soar and climb along arcs of beautifully hopeful songwriting.

Formed in 2001 in Canterbury, the band took its name from an ancient Icelandic poem. James Vella, one of the band’s five instrumental multi-taskers (he logs time on everything from the glockenspiel to the casiotone), explains the somewhat obscure reference: “When we had just started out, we saw a musical interpretation of it performed by the Icelandic film score composer Hilmar Orn Hilmarrsson and absolutely fell in love with that particular line–the shape of the words and their meaning was just perfect for the songs we were writing.”

With only one album out and critics across the board already comparing the group to post-rock giants such as Godspeed, You Black Emperor and Mogwai, one can imagine it’s difficult to live up to the mounting expectations. “It often feels both frightening and inspiring to be so aware that people are listening so intently,” Vella admits. “We’re so excited about playing new material but also worried that it might not live up to the response we have had from the first record.”

To Beijing audiences already familiar with the musical oceans generated by local mainstays like Lonely China Day and FM3, yndi halda is especially refreshing. Their live shows feature epic instrumentals and cinematic whirlwinds that perfectly compliment their nervously brilliant emotive intensity. “[Playing live] I often find myself on autopilot,” Vella reveals, “as if I’m acting entirely on instinct. When I wake up and remember that I’m onstage playing, I forget where I am in the song and have to work out what everyone else is playing. Keeping up energy isn’t a problem–we love playing our songs so much, and I find myself revisiting the same sentiment that was present when we wrote them.”

The band will be hitting up the usual tourists sites in Beijing, but Vella is keen on seeking out the city’s eccentricity. “I saw a documentary about China recently, in which the broadcaster visited a completely untrained robot maker named Mr. Wu. He had never been to school, and never had any physics or mechanics training, but had somehow developed the skill of building robots (that were all named after him). It was amazing; I’d love to meet him.”

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yndi halda

Friday, August 3

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