The Essex Serpent score composer Herdís Stefánsdóttir launches solo project Kónguló

Herdís Stefánsdóttir, who composed the score for Apple TV+'s The Essex Serpent alongside Dustin O'Halloran, has launched her solo project Kónguló today (14 June) with her debut single "Be Human".

"Be Human" features vocals from Neonme, who is known as a member of Daughters of Reykjavík (Salka) and Cyber. Stefánsdóttir said of the single, "The foundation came to me in Berlin a few years ago. It was written about regret and confronting parts of yourself you didn’t know you had. I put the song in the drawer and didn’t touch it for a couple of years. When I was living in LA my good friend and musician Baldur Hjörleifsson came to visit me and we worked on the song for a week. A few months later I saw the Icelandic band Cyber play a show in downtown Reykjavík. I didn’t know Salka at the time but I was absolutely in love with her performance and production. Salka came in with the verse lyrics and rap and her own meaning to the song, and it was just a perfect fit!"

Speaking about Kónguló, which means spider in Icelandic, Stefánsdóttir added, "I’ve been absolutely terrified of spiders since I was a kid but I still find them so fascinating and beautiful, with their long legs and masterful webs. It’s taken me a long time to write and work on releasing my first solo project so I guess naming it something I am so scared of was a part of facing my fears."