Marketa Irglova has released Among the Living, an epic and powerful song she carefully regards as a compassionate elegy for 2020, available via all major streaming platforms. Marking her second song to come this year, Among the Living follows the earlier release Quintessence, which came this summer to honor solstice. Together the tracks serve as Irglova’s debut music from her home base in Iceland.

The pair of songs break her six-year musical silence with a conscious raising look at 2020, while also offering light and hope in these troubling times as only Irglova could express. Conveying the idea of positivity and comfort is something Irglova – whose work in Once and The Swell Season has garnered her an Academy Award and two Grammy nominations – strives for in her music even when addressing the harsh realities that lie outside our doors. She describes, “In writing Among the Living I called upon compassion and loving kindness toward the living as well as to those left to mourn. With as much loss as people all over the world have experienced in the past year, I wanted to write a tribute to those who have died and to try to pass on some words of comfort to their families. I hope this song can spread some healing to people who are in pain. To help them feel a little better.” Among the Living is vast in scope presenting itself with a 13 minute journey into the mystic. The song rolls over the listener like waves on a shore and carries with it a spirituality that delicately balances its beauty and power. Recorded with producer and co-conspirator Sturla Mio Thorisson at the couple’s studio, Masterkey in Reykjavik, Among the Living features the talents of Iceland’s Siggi String Quartet (Bjork, Johann Johannsson) – whose members also perform as part of the Reykjavik Chamber Orchestra and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra – and longtime collaborator Aida Shahghasemi. Among the Living is yet another step for Irglova as she begins to share more music after a period of hibernation. While the last few years were focused on personal endeavors such as raising a family, she has continually made time to engage with fans via social media, specifically sharing photos and lyrics on Instagram for both releases of Among the Living and Quintessence. This sense of community around her music and persona continues to grow in the most natural of ways. A lyric video for the song that incorporates many of the emotions of 2020, along with the singles cover art (Lena Bushart) was created by Sion Fullana and Anton Kawasaki and can be viewed here. Irglova plans to share a long form video as well as more music at the turn of the year. Download: press photo cover art