This Icelandic singer and programmer, one third of the electro-gothic trio Kaelan Mikla, was described to me as the local “high priestess of dark wave.” What I actually got was a loamy-alto vocal noir set in cello-register soundscapes played on an iPad: a tablet-age reincarnation of the post–Velvet Underground Nico, in the harmonium-wasteland setting of 1969’s The Marble Index and 1970’s Desertshore. Released in December, 2016, Unexplained Miseries sets Matthildur’s arias further back in the twilight – and drawing you with them.
...Unexplained Miseries sets Matthildur’s arias further back in the twilight – and drawing you with them