Hafdís Huld @ Brel 18/6/09

For someone used to chart hits Brel seems a slightly odd choice of venue, but this is where former winner of best Icelandic pop album Hafdís Huld finds herself. Half her lifetime ago Hafdís had been part of GusGus, one of Iceland’s biggest ‘90’s bands, along with notable member Emilíana Torrini (who can be seen at Òran Mór next week), now she is on the verge of releasing her second solo effort. Still despite Iceland hosting less than half of the population of Glasgow it must be a bizarrely quaint venue for a home country pop star on her third visit to the city.

Support comes from local favourite Jo Mango who graces us with a splendid set of sweet acoustic gems perfectly, and more chat than you would know what to do with. Jo informs the crowd of her attendance of speech therapy for talking too much learning she was in the top two percentile for talkativeness in the country, and more than backed this up with stories of exploding fish, baking disasters and murmuration.

When Hafdís takes the stage there is an odd feeling that this just might not work. A fully seated audience in a daylight filled venue does not seem the ideal setting for a chirpy blond and a sown pink hippo in a leotard. This sentiment continues throughout her first track ‘Ski Jumper’ a moderately cheesy yet delightful pop track that does not translate perfectly onto one acoustic guitar. Only guitarist Alasdair Wright joins Hafdís today, her usual three-piece band would struggle to fit onto the Brel stage. However this feeling of uncertainty is thrown out the window when Hafdís begins to talk, the singer knows how to charm a crowd coming across both endearing and funny to hilarious extremes, justifying why Phil Jupitus considers her ‘the maddest person I’ve ever interviewed’.

Introducing second track ‘Homemade Lemonade’ Hafdís jokes about the mention of Dolly Parton saying ‘if you hear from her tell me to call me, it’s been long enough’ capturing an array of giggles from her ranging audience. Her unique and charismatic stage chat would catch even the dourest person out, as she jokes about sounding like the Queen, sowing websites, elf watching and pulling out her Christina and Beyoncé dance moves. Even the hippo gets explained out of oblivion, as she tells how a lovely yet hyperactive fan presented her with it adding to the cat in a ski jumper she received on her last visit to Glasgow, simultaneously putting her sowing talents to shame.

It is not just the onstage banter that wins over the audience, as the set continues her lovingly crafted songs enhance her credit even further. Songs about silly topics which could bewilder anyone’s imagination while simultaneously dragging them into her story book world of treasure hunting in pawn shops and old folk thinking she’s a vampire. When closer, new single ‘Kongulo’ (possibly number one in Iceland by the time this review is published) about human spider Alain Robert finishes it leaves a highly satisfied crowd who keep the girl chatting way past the music has stopped. Hafdís may not be known well in this country but she has all the qualities that could see her equal her home country success abroad.