Credit for this discovery goes to a very dear friend of mine-- let's call him Adam-- and to be fair he told me about him back in March. However, it took me ages to get my act together and really give it a listen. Needless to say, I wish I had been more attentive ages ago.
Originally from the Faroe Islands**, he was first part of a little band known as Mark No Limits, but has met with much wider success for his solo work. He's got one album out in Faroese (which I think is pretty outrageously cool) and another two in english. Despite Celan's statement that poetry is not bilingual, I've got to say that Teitur proves him wrong with well-written, subtle and delightful lyrics and a brilliant orchestration.
Albums include Poetry and Airplanes (July 2003), Stay Under the Stars (September 2006), Káta Hornið (May 2007), and The Singer (April 2008). Poetry and Airplanes contains such gems as the song that first hooked me, Sleeping with the Lights On. Other personal favorites include Rough Around the Edges and the title track, though I don't know who I'm kidding, I'm basically addicted to this entire album. The lyrics are just so damn perfect, and if you don't find his voice genuine, then sir, you have no beating heart within you.
Stay Under the Stars has it's fair share of memorable lyrics as well-- "May our minds lose the battle / May our hearts win the war" for instance, from Don't Want You to Wake Up, and several others.
Despite the fact that I don't know what he's saying, Káta Hornið is very much in heavy rotation on the Baby. If anyone knows what he's saying, I'll bake you a whole batch of orange shortbread if you enlighten me!
*His name, in Old Norse, means 'happy' and that is precisely what his songs make me--how lovely is that!
**Equidistant from Iceland, Scotland and Norway, I think my perfect summer house might be in the Faroe Islands, and if the men are as lovely as Teitur's lyrics, I might stay for a winter or two as well.
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