Hafdis Huld

I'm not sure if the Pure Groove record store – and it does sell records – is one of the best kept secrets in London or that maybe my radar isn't quite up to a satisfactory standard in detecting this little gem. Suffice to say this rather splendidly cool hangout offers numerous free in-store gigs on most days of the week, lunch times and evenings (approximately 1.15pm & 6.30pm on average). It's good to see independent music being promoted opposite the historic Smithfield's market and is the sort of shop to browse round and find something interesting and different rather than a boring purchase via the more traditional outlets.

There's a selection of drinks and snacks available and a nice tranquil atmosphere within, like a café where you might expect Nick Cave to be in the corner drinking a Vodka and fresh blood cocktail. Unfortunately, he's not in this evening but we do have Hafdis Huld. The former singer with Gus Gus is an Icelandic teen prodigy actress (she starred in 'Dis' so get those Icelandic Halliwell's film guides out now) who is striking out on her own. With her accompaniment of Alastair on acoustic guitar and Sarah on keyboards she kicks off with 'Ski Jumper', a sweet and rather affecting vignette with it's own manifesto of sorts in the form of lyric "I wanna hang around a little longer." With songs like this one she will.

There's a fair bit of between song chat which isn't that easy in a small shop with a reticent audience there to just maybe drop in and see what or if there's a fuss to be made. Or maybe have a sly nap. Still, Hafdis isn't put off and introduces 'Homemade Lemonade' with a story about catching a big fish in Iceland and then having your photo taken with it for the local paper and to be fair, who wouldn't want to be in the Reykjavik Herald next to Flipper?

'Tomoko' is next up and we are urged to view its sexy video on YouTube which has a Spider Girl type theme and may make you want to hang upside-down in tribute…or discomfort. It's noticeable how Hafdis sings almost pristinely but retains her very strong accent in the gaps. However, she does have a winsome charm that whilst not totally winning over the audience certainly nudges towards endearment.

A cover of the Velvet Underground's 'Who Loves The Sun' (from 'Loaded' if I remember correctly) brings out a flying V banjo that nearly makes Alastair dance like Elvis and Prince combined... but he taps his foot for 5 seconds and thinks better of it. A shame for all of us I'm sure you'll agree.

Hafdis explains that the sewn backdrop with her name was her own handiwork and that sewing tips along with CDs would all be available after the show. She finishes up with 'Vampires' which details what she thinks of her neighbours and what she thinks her neighbours think of her, all of which is not that ordinary and then 'Synchronised Swimmers' which whilst hardly Olympian is at least up to 100m front crawl standard.

The final offering is 'Kongulo', a No 2 hit in Iceland and is Spidey themed with a closing few lines of "Here comes the Kongulo" in tribute to the cheesy theme tune of the Spiderman cartoon series.

At times there's a feel of sub acoustic Nirvana going on, along with a sure sense that there are some good songs here ready to be tested on a wider platform. Seeing herself as Marilyn Manson's lovechild (her description) may or may not be useful in advancing her profile but given a few lucky breaks she may yet stake a claim to be Iceland's new rising star and give Bjork a bit of company on that afore-mentioned podium. Flipper would be proud.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.