Ásgeir: Iceland’s Most Exported Voice, In His Own Words

When I interviewed Ásgeir, he was already one of Iceland’s most remarkable musical exports — the young man from Laugarbakki whose debut album became the fastest-selling in Icelandic history, and whose hushed, frost-touched folk had quietly won over listeners across Europe and North America. He has kept moving since then.

Touring all over the world

In late 2025, Ásgeir released his studio album, Julia — a significant milestone because for the first time he wrote all the lyrics himself, opening the door to more direct personal storytelling.

The album arrived digitally in December 2025 with physical formats following in February 2026. He toured across Europe as a special guest on the amazing Faroese singer Eivør’s tour through late 2025, with dates in Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Scandinavia. In 2026, he is playing the Iceland Eclipse Festival on August 12th. Guide to Iceland. He currently has 33 upcoming concerts across 11 countries.
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The arc of his career — from a farming village two and a half hours from Reykjavík to stages across two continents — is one of Iceland’s quiet cultural success stories. What he said in this interview about music, home, and the pull of the Icelandic landscape feels as true now as it did then.

Meeting Ásgeir for the first time

I first met the Icelandic singer and superstar Ásgeir about seven or eight years ago. He was performing at the IT company where I was working. I was in the marketing department and recorded his performance on my phone. Ásgeir was alone on a small stage with his guitar, and I remember clearly how surprised I was by this artist. Even if I had listened to his music, I was blown away by his earnest and touching performance I approached him to ask him permission to post my recording of his performance online. He was very modest, even shy, and replied: “Do with it what you want.”

The biggest hit by Ásgeir is King and Cross

But all those years later, Ásgeir is one of Iceland’s most prominent names in music, but he is still the modest guy he has always been. Over one million people listen to him on Spotify every month. His biggest hit, King and Cross, has been played over 55 million times. For me, Ásgeir’s music is very polished, relaxing, reflective, and mentally nourishing. Most importantly, his performance is consistently authentic and honest. I love listening to Ásgeir when I’m working on something that requires deep focus or relaxing at home in my living room.

We Ásgeir fans are delighted that he is releasing his sixth album, Time on My Hands, on October 28th. He has already released four singles from the upcoming album, including Snowblind (one of my favorite songs) and Borderland.

Hey Ásgeir, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview. The songs I have heard from your new album are perhaps a little more like pop songs than your previous material. What inspires this change?

Maybe it was just the pandemic situation. I needed something to pick me, and that’s the result. I also intentionally wanted to have something more upbeat on this record and more songs that would be easily translated into a band setup when we would eventually play these songs live. Most of the songs are a little less part specific and more based on feel, which is usually better when playing with a band.

You have been touring Europe on a hectic schedule. Will my readers be able to see and hear you perform on stage in 2023?

Definitely! We’re finishing the tour schedule for next year as we speak. We’ll be coming to the Scandinavian countries and more cities in Europe. We’ll probably go on a small tour in the US and do a run of shows in Australia and Japan. I always love playing in Iceland, and I’m pretty sure we’ll schedule something there as well, maybe do a run of acoustic shows like I’ve done two times in the past. This will all be confirmed and announced very soon, I hope.

What Icelandic musicians do you recommend to my readers?

Some of my favorite Icelandic artists are Pétur Ben, Júníus Meyvant, Mugison, Hjaltalín, Emiliana Torrini, KK, and GusGus.

What are your favorite places or activities in Iceland?

I live very close to Elliðavatn, which is a big lake and Heiðmörk which is a beautiful area covered in trees and moss with many hiking trails, nearby is also Rauðhólar (Red Hills) which is an old lava field with red pseudo craters. The area looks a bit like you could be on Mars. I only have to walk for 10 minutes to get to these places, so I often go there running or walking.

The area I grew up in will always be close to my heart, although it doesn’t look as majestic as some other parts of Iceland. There are some hidden pearls there though. This area is in the north-west side of Iceland, around a town called Hvammstangi.

Hallormsstaðarskógur in the east is one of the biggest forests in Iceland. It has many trails all over and would be a great place to have a picnic or something. In the east, you can also see reindeer, which I always found very fascinating. There aren’t a lot of big wild animals in Iceland, and they always seemed like they came out of a fairytale.

What advice would you give those visiting Iceland for the first time?

I’m still discovering some new things about Reykjavik, although I have lived there for more than ten years now. You could just stay there and get to know the city for a few days. But I guess most people visiting Iceland want to experience nature. Then I would probably recommend driving the ring road around the country and enjoying what it offers. Waterfalls, glaciers, lava fields, mountains, and natural pools. You’ll find all those things on the way, and don’t be afraid to ask the locals for ideas or directions.

Ásgeir music video: Borderland

Ásgeir music video: Snowblind