Icelandic indie-pop songwriter Kaktus Einarsson will release his second album ‘Lobster Coda’ via One Little Independent Records on October 25th. Amidst a collection of lush, electronic earworms, Kaktus has penned an honest account of his recovery from a sudden functional neurological disorder (FND) that required him to relearn how to use his motor functions, while also performing his duties as a new father. The album features appearances from School of X, Nanna (Of Monsters and Men) and Damon Albarn. In October, Kaktus will embark on a European tour supporting The Vaccines.
New single ‘Gumbri’ features the British artist and musician Damon Albarn whom Kaktus has known for many years. At age 15, Kaktus played trumpet on the Gorillaz track ‘Stop The Dams’. He later worked as an engineering assistant on Damon’s Mercury-nominated solo album ‘Everyday Robots’ (2012), as well as ‘Africa Express presents Maison Des Jeunes’ (2013). Speaking about how the collaboration came about, Kaktus said – “We were chatting about music and the future and when I played my demo of Gumbri, I joked that it might be a track he’d want to feature on. A few bars into the song, he looked at me and said “yeah, ok!” I already thought it was one of the best songs I had for the record, so to have my good friend and mentor joining me on it is a pure pleasure.”
‘Lobster Coda’ incorporates dreamy, glistening synth-pop and melancholic ambience, created through layers of atmospheric keys, percussion, and groove-laden funk bass. Kaktus details his journey following a stress-induced nonepileptic seizure that halted his brain’s ability to communicate with the rest of his body, resulting in losing control of his legs, arms and causing involuntary facial tics. Crucially, he spent months on a course of physical therapy while also trying to care for his children and his partner, that by his own admission he then needed to reconnect with. With an occasionally brutal candour, Kaktus’s new album is about taking the time to reflect and recognise changes that need to be made, to listen to your body, and to trust the process no matter how long it might take.
He explains; “We had bought a new house, and I was renovating that, I’d become a father of two with the birth of my young boy, and I’d entered a new kind of grown-up life, financially with the mortgage and emotionally, so the pressure had been high. I realise now that during this time I didn’t do any work on myself. It happened while I was at my dad’s exhibition, my eyes started to feel funny, my vision was blurred, and I basically had a panic attack. I ended up losing all power and with my father holding me. It was very painful, I had no control. It was in the ER room when I was told it was FND, which is a glitch between the brain and the nervous system. It’s where the neuro system learns a behaviour that it repeats in some kind of pattern, and the brain knows that it’s the wrong behaviour. And the body freezes. And then I couldn’t walk…”
“Recovery is ongoing to be honest. But I think this experience is almost like a test, it’s a mirror that I can hold up to the stress and pressures in everyday life. This kind of high intensity pressure, it’s not normal. I learned that recovery isn’t linear, there are good days and bad days, sometimes you get setbacks. Despite all of this, it’s a big relief that there wasn’t anything wrong with my spine, I didn’t have MS, or anything chronic. I was very lucky. I got a warning card. I remind myself of that, and every day is good”.
Overall, ‘Lobster Coda’ is about connection. Connection with yourself, the communication between body and mind, and knowing your own limits as well as overcoming adversity. It’s also about connection to others, nurturing relationships and finding balance. It’s about love for your friends and family, without forgetting yourself.
Kaktus Einarsson has led a remarkable musical life. Born and raised in Reykjavík, he was playing as part of experimental electronic act Ghostigital at the tender age of 10. In his post-punk outfit Fufanu, he opened hometown shows for Radiohead and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The band also supported Blur in Hyde Park, and stormed the festival circuit, appearing at the likes of Primavera Sound, Rock Werchter, Musilac and Down The Rabbit Hole. His debut solo album ‘Kick The Ladder’ was released in 2021, and later remixed by the likes of JFDR, Modular Project and Brandt Brauer Frick.
“A revelatory live experience, Kaktus Einarrson wields the kind of swagger and attitude all too uncommon in this kind of music” – Stereogum
“Breathtaking and unpredictable, imaginative and stunningly beautiful. Just like his native Iceland” – Louder Than War
“With a tonal palette halfway between the infectious synth-pop of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and the husky tonality of smoothly understated neo-soul” – Gigwise
Tracklist:
Lobster Coda
Daze Gold (with School of X)
Be This Way (with Nanna)
Saka
Heart Spell
Koddi
White Burn
Gumbri (with Damon Albarn)