Stream DÍSA's Sculpture EP in full, and check out her Best Fit Q&A

Sculpture cultivates a bristling world of gloom-pop, darkwave, PBR&B and shimmering pop. All these strand meld together into one swollen blackish pearl of noise, simultaneously majestic and devastating. It’s a rare talent that DÍSA proffers, and one that’s sure to tantalise the grey goo between your ears.

Bryndís Jakobsdóttir, the noir visionary behind DÍSA, has had a monumental few months. From fizzling beginnings with massive tracks like "Stone" and last year's "Sculpture", to lauded performances at Iceland Airwaves, she's impressed at every turn with her unique take on pop. Now, with her debut EP about to drop (which you can listen to at the bottom of the page), we thought it best to grab a few minutes with her and explore what makes her tick.

We spoke to DÍSA ahead of her debut London set, at Ja Ja Ja this Thursday (26 March) at The Lexington with Apothek and Hey Elbow. Tickets are still available here for a fiver for members, and only £8 for general admission.

You can watch the video for "Cure", and then read the Q&A afterwards.

For those that don’t know you, can you just quickly introduce yourself?

My name is DÍSA, I am from Iceland, and I just finished my EP that’s coming out 24 March. I make electronic, vocal-driven music.

What ignited your passion for creating music?

I think it was only in 2013. I made some demos on my own computer in a direction I liked, so I went with that flow. It’s kind of recent! It was just me being a total amateur on ableton... I found some plugins I liked and just played around. I really like minimal production, so the sounds chosen were big and needed their space.

How did you write and record the Sculpture EP?

A lot of the EP was written in Sweden, but it was produced in Copenhagen. It was a co-write with my friends, Shelly Poole, Jonas Quant, Ana Diaz and Simon Byrt, which was cool because we have a nice vibe together – basically we sat down and just played! “Sculpture” itself was done in two hours.

It’s quite grand in instrumentation – was it recorded with live instruments or did you prefer to use samples?

It’s a combination of live drums and pianos, but mixed with a lot of analogue gear too. It gives it more juice really, you know? I really like the blend.

How will that translate to live performances?

We’re not gonna be doing it exactly the same live though, so there will be some bits that are a little different. I have a drummer who’s triggering samples, a guitarist with shitloads of pedals, and my friend on keys, synths and omnichord… she’s mainly a singer normally doing vocal harmonies, but she’ll be using her voice as a keyboard.

Though there’s some big poppy moments in the EP, it’s also quite dark in places too. Where does this darkness come from?

We were very conscious of that when we were writing. I like the contrast of ice-cold production and warm vocals... dark, heavy sounds and high-pitched vocals… it’s just those extreme contrasts. They amuse me. They interest me. I’m in love with pop, but I also like very experimental things too – I wanted to blend the melodic and the dark with the production. I just really like that.

Can you tell us what's influenced you over the years?

I like all kinds of music! I love ambient music. I also listen to Indian classical, Alice Coltrane, Michael Jackson, and whatever I feel like. Whatever fits. If I’m washing up I’ll listen to Radio 1 or something with good lyrics. I like going to noise concerts. What I really like is anything that’s made with good people who know what they’re doing.

What are your plans for the Ja Ja Ja performance?

We’re rehearsing all week, and we have a new guitarist… it’s an exciting, unknown factor. That’s gonna be exciting. There was another person on keys, but we’re changing it around a little bit and rearranging the songs next week. I’m excited for my first London gig!

What are you expecting it to be like?

I’m told London can be very silent! I’m sure it’ll be cool though. I’m excited to see Apothek and Hey Elbow.

What else do you have planned for the rest of the year? Will you be heading back into the studio or back to the UK?

I’m gonna be back for sure. I’ll be back and forth between Copenhagen and London all summer. I’m starting a new recording in April, I’m even doing sessions this week, just going full throttle! All summer I’m writing and recording. It’s gonna be hand-in-hand writing and recording, like as soon as I’ve got something down, I’ll get in the studio. When I have a good collection, hopefully it’ll be released as an album… so maybe late this year or early next year? As well as that I’ll be in festivals in Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark. I’m really excited! Everything feels like it’s coming together.

Stream DÍSA's Sculpture EP below. It's released by Tigerspring Records/The Orchard on 24 March.