Iceland somehow can’t stop producing fascinating new bands, each one having its own recipe for how to reinvent songwriting. And its own reason. Reykjavík-based Stígur (meaning both ‘path’ and ‘name’) formed in August 2014, almost five years ago after the singer Árni Freyr Haraldsson’s great grandfather died.

He left four books filled with thousands of poems he’d been writing for his entire life.

Never published, they seemed to be doomed to sink into oblivion. But Árni found them, studied, and eventually decided to turn them into songs. “Útburðarvæl” is the first one released by Stígur, a promise of a great career for the band, and a chance to be remembered for their spiritual founder.

Stígur on Soundcloud, YouTube, Facebook.