Axel Flóvent - “Have This Dance”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 8

Pairs Well With…Kaleo, Bon Iver, The War On Drugs

Seven years ago, Axel Flóvent headed from Iceland to SXSW for his first trip supporting the Forest Fires EP and its lush folk ballads, and catch up to now and Flóvent is readying his sophomore full-length that continues a tradition of emotive, pop-rock ballads. Normally accompanied by some hits of spacey synths and haunting, hung harmonies that recall post-rock predecessors, Flóvent also steps into alt-country zones like on recent single “When the Sun Goes Down” while still keeping pop-centric songwriting at the forefront. The result is accessible without being too on-the-money, quietly anthemic and palatable. (Kevin McStravick) 

2016 Review: The cold isolation of Axel Flóvent’s home country Iceland flows into his music, full, lonely settings for quiet reflections.  His breakout single is “Forest Fires”, an ethereal builder making the most of acoustic guitar, piano chords and ghostly, harmonized vocals.  Even though his music is subtle, there’s inherent catchiness in the soft, introspective chorus of “Forest Fires” that has created a situation of a song’s title informing the exponential spreading of Flóvent’s music - the track currently holds 2+ million spins on Spotify.  It’s derived from Alex Flóvent’s debut EP of the same name, also featuring the similarly lush “Beach” and the hypnotic, relatively electric “Nightlife”, secretly the strongest song in the collection.