Hafdís Huld: On Song, On Location

Hafdís Huld: “She said, ‘You’re not going to change anything that happened in the past, so why don’t you just try to get a good song out of it?’” Photo: Alisdair Wright

Braving the freezing snow, the Icelandic singer-songwriter reveals the dilemma at the heart of ‘Hindsight’ before performing an exclusive rendition

Icelandic singer-songwriter Hafdís Huld recently returned with her fifth original solo album, Darkest Night. With 25 years in the music industry under her belt, the album pays homage to her roots while providing her with the space to reflect on life in 2024. The result is a record that embraces every side of her creativity. Huld has an adept ability to weave stories through her folk songs, such as on the title track and All Alone where she brings chapters of her family’s history to vivid life. Swaying from sea shanties (Salt) to folktronica, (Softer Shade Of Blue), Darkest Night also allows Huld to bring together different styles.

Here, she braves the cold to tell us a little more about new track Hindsight before returning to the comfort of her studio where, joined by husband and collaborator Alisdair Wright, she performs an exclusive rendition for us…

Name: Hafdís Huld
Location: Mosfellsdalur, Iceland
Song: Hindsight

“Hindsight is about wishing you could go back in time and just give your younger self a quick warning about something that’s about to go horribly wrong. I was discussing this idea with a friend and it sounds like a great idea to go, ‘Stay away from that one,’ or, ‘Take this direction instead.’ But then we got into a discussion over a cup of tea and then you start thinking, ‘But if that one thing would change, that would lead to other things changing,’ and maybe you wouldn’t have the people in your life that you have right now.”

“That’s why this is an interesting topic, it gets into a whole discussion about that. So in the end, she said, ‘You’re not going to change anything that happened in the past, so why don’t you just try to get a good song out of it?’ So I went home, to the studio – I don’t live in the studio, I went home and then to the studio and write Hindsight.”

“There are some things I would really want to change, but it’s too risky, isn’t it? What would you do?”

Darkest Night by Hafdís Huld is out now. Find out more at: hafdishuld.com

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