Moses Hightower is an Icelandic soul band based out of Reykjavík, formed in 2007 by guitarist Daníel Friðrik Böðvarsson, drummer Magnús Trygvason Eliassen, bassist & lead singer Andri Ólafsson, and keyboard player & lead singer Steingrímur Karl Teague. The band has released three critically acclaimed full-length albums, and received Icelandic Music Awards along the way.
Music
''Búum til börn''
Starting out as the live band for solo chanteuse Dísa, the group soon received considerable airplay with the single that would later become the title track of their debut album, Búum til börn. Recorded and mixed by Magnús Øder, the album was self-released on July 5, 2010 and earned nominations for the Icelandic Music Award 2010 for Best Album and Best Lyrics.
''Önnur Mósebók''
From December 2011 to June 2012, in Reykjavík, Berlin and Amsterdam, the band recorded their sophomore effort, Önnur Mósebók. Magnús Øder again oversaw recording, largely onto analog tape in his Reykjavík studio Orgelsmiðjan, and mixing. The 10-track album found the band taking the debut's original, soulful vibe into more adventurous territory. Owing largely to the popularity of the advance single Stutt skref, which resided at and near the top of local radio charts for the better part of spring and early summer, the new album debuted high in the national charts when released by Record Records in August. The other singles, Sjáum hvað setur and Háa c, both took Moses' chart success a step further, spending 22 weeks on the state radio chart between them, thereof 5 weeks at the top.
''Fjallaloft''
On June 9, 2017, Moses Hightower released their third album, Fjallaloft. Mixed and partially co-produced by Styrmir Hauksson, it spawned several successful singles: The title track topped the state radio chart for 3 weeks around the time of the album's release, while Snefill, Feikn and Trúnó spent 28 weeks total on the chart in 2015 and 2016. The fifth single, Mjóddin, was in heavy rotation in August and September 2017, while a live radio recording of the band covering Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights spent a whole month as #1, from mid-November.
Awards and honors
Önnur Mósebók received 7 nominations in 6 categories of the Icelandic Music Awards 2012: Album of the year, Songwriter of the year, Lyricist of the year, Song of the year, Steingrímur and Andri as Singer of the year, and Magnús Øder as Producer of the year. Out of these, Moses Hightower ended up taking home the statues for Songwriter of the year and Lyricist of the year. For Fjallaloft, the band took home the Icelandic Music Awards for Songwriter of the Year 2017, having been nominated for Song of the year, Male vocalist of the year and Pop album of the year as well.
