Emilíana Torrini
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Emilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir (born 16 May 1977) is an Icelandic singer, best known for her worldwide debut album, Love in the Time of Science.
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[edit] Early life
She grew up in a town near Reykjavík, where she joined a choir at the age of 7 in which she sang soprano until she went to opera school at the age of 15. She became well-known in Iceland in 1994, when she won the song competition of junior colleges in Iceland (Icelandic: Söngkeppni framhaldsskólanna), aged 17, singing "I Will Survive". She has an Italian father and an Icelandic mother with whom she grew up in Iceland. Her father owns and operates a well-known Italian restaurant in Iceland, and many Icelanders first remember her as a young waitress.
[edit] Music career
From 1994 to 1996 she released three albums in Iceland, Spoon (with a band of the same name), Crouçie d'Où La, and Merman. But she gained fame only in 1999 with Love in the Time of Science (produced by Tears for Fears' Roland Orzabal). Torrini was able to sing Gollum's Song, the end theme of Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when fellow Icelander Björk backed out due to pregnancy. In 2005 she released the album Fisherman's Woman featuring the singles "Sunnyroad" and "Heartstopper." In 2006, Torrini was nomimated for the Icelandic Music Awards held in Reykjavík in four categories: Pop Album of the Year, Song of the Year (Sunnyroad), Singer of the Year and Video of the Year (Sunnyroad, Directed by Ali Taylor at Sherbet). She won all except Song of the Year.
[edit] Collaborations
She has been a member of Icelandic artist group GusGus, and contributed vocals to several songs on their debut Polydistortion (1997), most notably "Why", which she sometimes still performs live. She co-wrote Kylie Minogue’s "Slow" in 2003. She also produced the track along with Dan Carey; the two were nominated for a Best Dance Recording Grammy Award in 2005 for their work on "Slow". Prior to these, she contributed vocals to songs on Thievery Corporation's 2002 record The Richest Man in Babylon. Torrini has toured with Moby, Sting, Dido, Travis, and Tricky.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 1994 - Spoon
- 1995 - Crouçie d'où là. The name is a play on words. It is spelled as if it was a French word, but it is a homonym of the Icelandic word Krúsídúlla which means cutie pie.
- 1996 - Merman
- 1999 - Love in the Time of Science
- 2005 - Fisherman's Woman
[edit] Singles
- 1999 - "Baby Blue"
- 1999 - "Dead Things"
- 1999 - "To Be Free"
- 2000 - "Easy"
- 2000 - "Unemployed in Summertime"
- 2005 - "Heartstopper"
- 2005 - "Sunnyroad"
[edit] Collaborations
- 1997 - "Is Jesus Your Pal?" (vocals) (GusGus, Polydistortion)
- 1997 - "Why?" (vocals) (GusGus, Polydistortion)
- 2002 - "Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes" (vocals) (Thievery Corporation, The Richest Man in Babylon)
- 2002 - "Hold Your Hand" (vocals) (Paul Oakenfold, Bunkka)
- 2002 - "Until the Morning" (vocals) (Thievery Corporation, The Richest Man in Babylon)
[edit] References
- Sasha Frere-Jones. "Straight Up: Emiliana Torrini's spare new album". New Yorker, August 2005.
