March 1, 2019 London – Today, electronic dream-pop trio Vök shared a stylish video for their magnetic single “Erase You”, off their second album In The Dark, also released today via Nettwerk. Lead singer Margrét Rán explains the song, which is beautifully choreographed in the footage about a relationship that takes a sinister twist:

“Erase You – is a song about a person who pushed me off the edge to a point when all I wanted to do was to erase them from my life, the lyrics are a bit naive but really straight forward which was the intention.”

In The Dark follows previous album singles “Erase You”, “Spend The Love”, “Night & Day” and “Autopilot”, which have garnered well over 2 million streams collectively across platforms. The band was #1 Most Posted Artist on Hype Machine for “Autopilot”, which went to #2 on the Most Popular Now chart there.

Their new singles have also seen them gain UK national radio airplays on BBC Radio 1, 6 Music and Radio X. Written and recorded by Margrét Rán & Einar Stef in collaboration with producer James Earp -Bipolar Sunshine, Fickle Friends, Lewis Capaldi, new album In The Dark sees Vök creating their most immediate sounding and most accessible record yet. Recorded in the band’s home studio in Reykjavík, Iceland and in Notting Hill, London in early 2018, each song on In The Dark has its own definable character or theme, from Night & Day’s “obsession” to the crushing “disappointment” in Autopilot. After a successful first leg, Vök will begin the second part of their European headline tour later this month.

Vök – Erase You | Official Video |

February 2, 2018 Hamburg – Vök recently announced a EU tour in February and March, their biggest headline tour yet. To celebrate this news, the Icelandic electronic dream-pop band have shared a future sports inspired video for “Breaking Bones,” a track brimming with lush bursts of synth bliss and mystery.

Directed by Hörður Freyr Brynjarsson of Eyk Studio, who also previously made Vök’s stylish video for “Show Me,” The “Breaking Bones” video depicts two teams playing Hells Gate!,

a brutal futuristic version of hockey, reminiscent of science fiction films Rollerball, The Running Man and cult cyberpunk video games like Speedball. Hörður says of the video’s concept: “The idea came from a very vivid and instinctual image while listening to the song for the first time. Servants of society, facing each other, waiting to inflict pain. By time it was modified by the nostalgic sound of the synth echoing in the chorus, bringing in some elements of early 90s video games. The end result becomes some sort of an interactive TV broadcast in Vök’s wintery world…”

Vök – Breaking Bones | Official Video |

“With Figure we took the music out of the computer and into a more live and organic environment.” Vök – “Figure” is a word whose meaning twists and transforms in different contexts: a figure in the darkness, to figure something out, a number, a body type, a sum, a shape. No wonder Icelandic four-piece Vök, whose atmospheric electronic pop is similarly capable of eclectic twists and changes, picked it as the title for their daring debut album. Full of distorted pulses, near-whispered melodies, echoing guitars and dreamy hooks, and influenced by everything from The Weeknd and Little Dragon to existential sci-fi cinema, their ambitious first full-length spans a whole spectrum of sounds and feelings. “Anger, obsession, negligence, death, love, happiness and hope,” lists vocalist Margrét, who began the band with saxophonist Andri Már in snowy, beautiful Reykjavík in early 2013. “The word figure can represent so many things. So does this album.”

For Vök, Figure has been three life-changing years in the making. After winning Icelandic rising talent contest Músíktilraunir within months of forming, the group – instrumentalist Ólafur Alexander and new addition Einar Stef on drums – marked themselves out as innovative makers of smart, smouldering jams on 2015 EP Circles. Hailed by Noisey as “channelling the Beach soundtrack via 1980s synth pop and the modern sexiness of The Knife,” that EP won them plenty of praise, but was “a very electronic and computer-based release,” the band reflect now. With Figure, the goal was to merge their cold, spectral electronic sound with something more human. “We took the music out of the computer and into a more live and organic environment.”

The result is a listen that’s as intimate as it is full of surprises: as well as packing experimental moments of autotune and percussive panic, there’s intensely personal tales of family and relationships under strain. “Polar” – a defiant, smoky ballad with shades of Rihanna if the “Work” pop star had James Blake layering grinding keyboard lines beneath her sultry vocals – was written two years ago when Margrét and her father were arguing: “We’re best friends but he did not fully always understand the music life. I was trying to convince him that it doesn’t matter if I’m poor for the rest of my life as long as I’m doing what makes me happy. I wrote that song one day when I was overloaded with frustration.” Other tracks capture tender moments of romance: “Show Me” features pleas for a partner to open up emotionally, over xx-style minimalism and ringing synth sounds. ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ – one of the group’s favourite tracks from the record – paints a lush but heartbreaking picture of a dalliance that can only last a night before “the magic fades.” ‘BTO’ meanwhile is an anthem for the downtrodden that asks one powerful question, set over floating harmonies and chimes of guitar: “do you think about us?”

Figure was mostly written in Margret’s cosy studio, over “endless cups of coffee” in front of spectacular views of the city they call home

“It can make a world of difference to have a beautiful view in front of you while you write”.

The tracks were then taken to drummer Einar’s home studio, where they recorded with producer and Jack Garrett collaborator

Brett Cox, who was recently nominated for Young Producer Of The Year at the Music Producers Guild Awards and whose stamp is keenly felt on the finely detailed Figure. “Einar’s home is in a beautiful utopian neighbourhood in Reykjavik that is full of century-old corrugated-iron houses,”say the band, who list that peaceful location as one of the album’s inspirations, alongside “unromantic walks on the beach”, Margrét’s dog Ringo, trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack and 2015 movie Ex Machina – a thriller, tellingly for Vök, about the blurring line between computers and humanity. “We want this record to take us beyond Europe,” say the group, who describe having to “get out of our comfort zone” on this album. “We dream of experiencing Japan. North and South America are also places we strive to visit.” The most important thing to Vök however is that “we managed to create an album full of songs that we all connect to and care about, which means a great deal to us.” Brave, warm and emotional, Figure just might end up meaning a great deal to you too.

Vök – Show Me | Official Video |

Vök – Waiting | Official Video |