Arny Margret releases I Miss You, I Do

Arny Margret, Iceland’s remarkable and poetic upcoming singer-songwriter, is due to release her second album ‘I Miss You, I Do’ on March 7th via One Little Independent Records. The follow-up to 2022’s celebrated, minimalist folk debut ‘they only talk about the weather’ sees her working with new producers in America to develop and hone a sound that’s more textured, expansive, and mature.

‘I Miss You, I Do’ incorporates sessions from Arny Margret’s trips to New York City, North Carolina, and Colorado, as well as those recorded in Iceland. During extensive international touring, she wrote prolifically and spent time getting to know producers and musicians who each brought their own unique and individual talents to the project. Arny’s atmospheric and introspective material has been layered with country-inflected full band ensembles, keys, banjo, harmonium, slide guitar and more, adding an ambience that only enhances her natural ability to convey crystal-clear imagery within thematically rich writing.

In pursuit of her creative vision, Arny enlisted producers Josh Kaufman, Andrew Berlin, Brad Cook, and Guðm. “Kiddi” Kristinn Jónsson. Josh Kaufman is best known for his work with Grateful Dead founder Bob Weir, The National, This Is The Kit, Hiss Golden Messenger, Josh Ritter, and The War On Drugs. Andrew Berlin, GRAMMY nominated for his work on Gregory Alan Isakov’s record ‘Evening Machines’, also mixes national punk rock staples such as A Wilhelm Scream, Rise Against, and Teenage Bottlerocket. Brad Cook served as a producer for Bon Iver, Big Red Machine, Waxahatchee, Hand Habits, Kevin Morby, and Whitney amongst others. Arny also returned to Iceland to record with her long-time collaborator and friend Kiddi Jónsson in Reykjavík, Iceland.

“The main thing I wanted for this album was for it to be different”, Arny explains. “When I listen to the last one, I feel like it's mainly about me and the guitar. It's very stripped back. I wanted to do more - I love the banjo, the fuller sound, I love the American sound, so recording it all over there made a big difference. I’ve always worked with the same people in the same places, so I never thought I could do this - work with all these people who record with some of my favourite musicians. I really admire everyone on this. And pushing myself out of my comfort zone, that’s quite rewarding”.

Album opener and initial single ‘I Miss You, I Do’ was recorded with Kaufman in Kingston, New York and was written the night before Arny met him. “I wanted to have a good song to take with me, so I wrote it in my pyjamas in the Airbnb I was staying at before I went to sleep. I think it’s become the song I’m most fond of on the album”. It’s followed by the nostalgic and tender ‘Crooked Teeth’, worked on with Berlin, and “about never feeling noticed. But it’s also about what makes me who I am; I used to have crooked teeth and I have my mother’s eyes. So, it’s about the good and the bad parts that you take with you; it’s about growing up”.

Highlight ‘Greyhound Station’ imagines the country’s highways and Arny’s road trips, painting picturesque landscapes of Virginia and Carolina valleys, foothills, and ridges. “This was the first session I did with a new producer”, she says, “so I was kind of scared about it. After almost 3 weeks of touring, we met up and we just talked a bit, and then we did the song. And I think this was actually the first one we did”.

‘I Love You’ and ‘Day Old Thoughts’ were both recorded in Reykjavík at Kiddi’s studio, Arny’s home away from home. They also both feature guest and labelmate Ásgeir on some of the instrumentation. She wrote ‘I Love You’ for her mother; “I went to visit her after I hadn’t seen her for a long time, and I didn’t realise I missed her until I met her. It’s about her and her childhood home, the farm she grew up on; it’s a song for her. It’s a song I really love”. Across different points of the album, we find Arny in a wistful and contemplative state, reaching out for connection during long stints away from home. It is reflective, both an adventure and an exploration of self and sound. Staring out of windows while America’s filmic scenery rushes past her, Arny is searching her memories and finding new meaning in them.

‘Maybe I’ve Wasted My Time’ is an evocative example of Arny’s lyrical maturity on the subject of her personal journey. “It’s about overthinking what’s already happened to you that you can’t change. It’s about growing up and rethinking parts of our past. It’s my thoughts about everything and nothing”. The coming-of-age themes examined here continue on the vulnerable ‘Took the Train 'til the End’, which is about not being remembered or appreciated, but more optimistically, the realisation that no matter how much someone might neglect you, it’s not your fault. “I gave you every moment / You didn’t pay it any mind”, she sings - it’s about recognising your worth in something, and letting go if necessary. “Brad Cook and his brother Phil helped a lot to jam this one out, in fact when we listened back to it Brad actually cried... making grown men cry”, she says affectionately.

‘You’re Mine, I’m Yours’ and ‘Born in Spring’ continue mapping the timeless narrative of ‘I Miss You, I Do’, with delicate instrumental flourishes working to breathe more life into the emotional depth of Arny’s melancholic but hopeful words. There is a grounded simplicity here, a feeling that these songs are indebted to something older than all of us - to history, to nature, to ancestors, to things passed down through generations - and that Arny is finding her place amongst all of it.

Though ‘I Miss You, I Do’ is reminiscent of the many changing seasons of the US rather than the long winters of her native Iceland, Arny has always recalled those times, often including reference to colder climates in her lyrics, and sonically representing her glacial and isolated hometown. So, as is only fitting for an Arny Margret record, we find an end at ‘Happy New Year’, recorded in Gregory Alan Isakov’s studio in Colorado, which was of particular personal importance to Arny; “I actually met him a tiny bit when we came in, which was cool. He’s probably my biggest musical inspiration, so it was really amazing to be in his studio doing stuff. This one is about Christmas and New Year. New Year’s Eve has never been the best time of year for me, I’ve always felt like it’s a sad and dark time... there’s probably a lot of people out there that can connect to that”.

On ‘I Miss You, I Do’, Arny is supported by many friends that she’s made along the way, but in its entirety it flows as a singular, conceptual piece and is a testament to her exceptional talent. Arny co-produced every song on the album, giving it a throughline, and though the musicality is collected from variety, they all importantly provide backing to a rare voice, one that is as touching as it is honest.

Arny Margret has supported the likes of Leif Vollebekk, Passenger, Wilco, Blake Mills, Ásgeir, and more, as well as playing the likes of SXSW, The Great Escape, Eurosonic, Newport Folk Festival, and Iceland Airwaves. She was nominated for Newcomer of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards 2022 and won Best New Act at the Iceland Airwaves Plus Awards. In 2023 she was nominated for Song, Album, and Video of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards, winning Song of the Year. She was also nominated for Newcomer of the Year at the Icelandic People’s Choice Awards. In 2024, she was nominated for Eurosonic’s prestigious MME award, as one of ten emerging artists who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year. She’s performed a live KEXP session and been championed by the likes of The Guardian, The Evening Standard, The Independent, Rolling Stone, NME, The Line Of Best Fit, Clash Magazine, and many more.