Iceland's Milkywhale drop the affecting "Goodbye" with a beautifully absurd clip

17 May 2016, 13:00 | Written by Paul Bridgewater

(Tracks)

(Milkywhale)

"Goodbye was actually supposed to be a powerballad," says Melkorka Sigríður Magnúsdóttir - aka Milkywhale. "The lyrics are a bit sad and dramatic, different from the electro-pop we have been doing."

"When we started working on the song it took a different turn," continues Magnúsdóttir, "[and] the result is a different kind of powerballad, the one you can release your frustration, show off your dance skills or just go crazy while doing your dishwash. And if you're not certain how to do it, you can always get inspired by the moves in our video."

She's talking about the sublime, punchy new track "Goodbye", which gets a premiere today via an affecting and absurd video from award winning Icelandic director Magnús Leifsson, who has cut clips for some of Iceland's most established artist such as Monsters and Men, Ólafur Arnalds and FM Belfast

"Magnús is such a talented director," explains Magnúsdóttir, so when he came up with this strange idea, a man bonding with his massage chair, me and Árni immediately went all in. We wanted to look for an actor that was also a great mover. Hannes Óli Ágústsson, the actor in the video, loves to dance and we actually starred together in a dance performance some years ago."

A choreographer, dancer and performer, Magnúsdóttir was one of the highlights of last year's Iceland Airwaves. Teaming up with musician Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson under the name Milkywhale. name, their live show dismantles the boundaries between a concert and a performance :

"The concept for the 'Goodbye' video evolves around an idea that the climax of the song should visually not be that much of a climax," says director Leifsson. "Without revealing too much, the video is a little story about a man and his quest for finding the perfect chair."