The last time I spoke with Soffía from Orfia, she described the Icelandic duo as “synthetic, dreamy sounds mixed with interesting instruments, with influences from the Celtic scene and a hint of Middle East tonality.” I thought she may have been joking with me, especially when she went on to say that the music was enjoyed with “a cold glass of milk.”

Orfia began three years ago as a project between composers Soffía Björg and Örn Eldjárn. The word Orfia comes from the ancient Greek, meaning ‘to have a beautiful voice,’ which seems entirely appropriate.

Orfia are back with a new crowdfunding project, and are hopeful to release their debut album. Oh, and things have changed. Soffía now recommends a good coffee with a dash of Baileys as an accompaniment.

How are things with Orfia?
Things are going really well. We have been in the studio recording and it sounds amazing. To compose for various musical groups and instruments like a string quintet, woodwind quartet, harp and finally hearing them come to life is always a magical moment instead of trying to imagine the actual sound. Orfia is also my graduation project from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts so there are really exciting times ahead!

I see that you are crowdfunding your debut album? How did this come about?
To make an album is not cheap and we are working with many musicians who are playing on the album. We have seen several albums successfully reach their funds through Karolina Fund and we decided to give it a go! It’s a brilliant concept. People can pre-order the album or pay for a private concert by supporting us through Karolina Fund.

What if you don’t raise the funds?
Then we are screwed. No, not screwed, but we are depending on raising the funds for the albums because it is quite hard to get funds in general.

Your artwork is a pretty fearsome looking wolf. What’s the inspiration behind that?
We wanted something strong on the cover and the wolf is a beautiful creature. It had to be in some kind of relation to sound and a wolf’s growl is quite nice, I think. I got the idea when I saw my schoolmate Sigga Soffía, who is also at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts, drawing all these pictures of beautiful animals. She made the Wolf of Orfia for us and we loved it!

Last time I interviewed you, you said that Orfia is best enjoyed with a cold glass of milk. Do you still think this?!
No, I have changed my mind about that. Maybe a good cup of coffee with a dash of Baileys? We are growing up so fast!

What can we expect from the debut album?
Hipsters and grownups can all enjoy this album!

Originally published on Iceland Review online.