Klemens Hannigan

About

" The calm side of a chaotic soul "

Klemens Hannigan’s aims are riotous and lofty. Working together with Leifur Bjorns, a part of a leftfield performance arts project entitled HATARI, who were once the stars of Eurovision, Hannigan’s band might be smooth and clean in their modern incarnation, but they have a history that stretches as far as “bring down capitalism”.

Despite his gentle newer guise, the Reykjavik-based act’s goals haven’t changed. As Bjorns deals with the aftermath of functional alcoholism and Hannigan with the barely-controlled chaos of his HATARI life, both artists combine in their new project with British producer Howie B, and the result has a very different feel. Klemens Hannigan’s mellow sound began to take shape in 2022, and drops the abrasive prior take to focus on a gentle, soul-pop feel.

In fact, on debut album ‘Low Light’, which got a long-awaited launch in February 2024, Hannigan’s vocal is the star, providing a delicate, almost tender exploration of his own thoughts set against a dulcet beat-led backdrop. The record feels, more even than many of its contemporaries, like Klemens has dropped the more personal side of his heart into his lyrics, and the success of tracks like ‘Step by Step’, which explores sexuality and respect, shows how relatable this new guise has become.

More typical of Hannigans’ varied past, perhaps, is the ten-point manifesto that comes with the new material. In it, the trio lay down the essentials of their process and its ethos: at the milder end, that everything should be under his control, right up to lofty statements like “examine your own navel, with humility,” or “art has no sympathy for its neighbour.”

The end result is a sound with depth and hidden layers, a sound that’s a gigantic change in direction, but also somehow completely in keeping with the trio’s collective personality at the same time. A gentle kind of chaos.