Emilíana Torrini

Icelandic singer/songwriter Emilíana Torrini first made her name in the late '90s with a beguiling mixture of folk, electronica, pop/rock, and trip-hop that garnered comparisons to enigmatic vocalists of the era like Kirsty Hawkshaw and Björk. 1999's Love in the Time of Science gave Torrini her first international exposure, and a prominent soundtrack appearance on 2002's Lord of the Rings film The Two Towers compounded her visibility. Her output over the coming years, though, signified a thoughtful and wide-ranging artist unwilling to be pigeonholed. From the low-key, mostly acoustic Fisherman's Woman (2005) to the wily, synth-based Tookah (2013), Torrini followed her muse to interesting places. She later collaborated with Belgium's the Colorist Orchestra for a pair of enchanting chamber pop releases including 2023's Racing the Storm.

The daughter of an Italian father and Icelandic mother, Torrini was raised in Kópavogur, where she worked at her father's Italian restaurant. She began singing at a young age and attended opera school as a teenager. Torrini began her music career in the mid-'90s as a member of the electronic pop collective GusGus and appeared on their 1997 debut album, Polydistortion. Meanwhile, she launched a solo career with 1995's Crouçie D'où Là, a collection of cover songs. Her 1996 follow-up, Merman, was a significant success in her home country and introduced original material alongside covers of songs by artists like Tom Waits and the Velvet Underground.

Torrini broke through internationally with her trip-hop-leaning third album, 1999's Love in the Time of Science. Released by U.K. label One Little Indian, it saw her join forces with Tears for Fears' Roland Orzabal, who recorded, produced, and co-wrote a number of its songs. In 2002, Torrini was asked by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson to voice the finale music, "Gollum's Song," for The Two Towers, replacing Björk, who had backed out due to pregnancy.

Rather than immediately capitalizing on this momentum, Torrini turned to songwriting and penned two tracks, "Someday" and the chart-topper "Slow," for Kylie Minogue's 2003 album Body Language. When she finally returned with her own record, it signaled something of a sea change in her music. Her first album for the Rough Trade label, 2005's enchanting Fisherman's Woman, was a back-to-basics effort that deemphasized Torrini's use of electronics in favor of acoustic guitar, piano, and the singer's hushed vocals. It also cemented her fruitful partnership with producer Dan Carey, who remained with Torrini during the recording of her next solo effort, 2008's Me and Armini. That record spawned the European hit single "Jungle Drum," which shot to number one in her native Iceland, as well as in Germany and Belgium. Torrini took the album on a two-year worldwide tour and then, after becoming a parent in 2010, went on a hiatus.

Working again with Carey, Torrini leaned into distinctive synthesizers like Oberheim and Swarmathon to create a nimble and sometimes mesmerizing sound. The resulting set, Tookah, appeared in 2013. After this she teamed up with Belgian ensemble the Colorist Orchestra, who rearranged a number of songs from her back catalog. This collaboration was taken on the road for a number of shows and resulted in the live album The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini, which was released in late 2016. In addition to the re-compositions, the record featured two brand-new songs, "When We Dance" and "Nightfall." A year later, Torrini joined Canadian turntablist Kid Koala on his album Music to Draw To: Satellite.

Resuming her partnership with the Colorist Orchestra, she began working on a set of new songs that fused her own sensibilities with the group's classical and chamber pop sound. After signing with Bella Union, they released the joint studio album Racing the Storm in March 2023. ~ Andrew Leahey & MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi