Fun fact: the seed for this album was sown in the Netherlands. On Vlieland to be precise, because there the Norwegian bard Erlend Øye bumped into the Icelandic reggae group Hjalmar and they played a set together. That went so well that Øye decided to go to the island of smoke and fire to record an album there. Erlend Øye has already distinguished himself as an excellent songwriter with his groups
… Kings Of Convenience and The Whitest Boy Alive. One that is also blessed with a relativising, boyish voice. So the most important question is: can those Icelanders groove a bit? Yes, it is not pure roots reggae. The beard men of Hjalmar always lay down a solid soulful groove on which Erlend can prove that he is still a skilled songsmith. Lagao is a nice nothing-to-the-hand album and therefore exactly what 'lagao' means in Brazil: cool, relaxed, great. (PdK)more
