Ásgeir is an Icelandic singer-songwriter and musician from Reykjavík. He is credited as Ásgeir Trausti on his Icelandic releases and later uses Ásgeir as his international recording name. He is born in 1992.

Career

He performs with his own band, Ásgeir Trausti Band, and also plays guitar in the Icelandic band The Lovely Lion. He is associated with art pop, folk, folk pop, folktronica, indie folk, singer-songwriter, indie and electronic folk.

Many of his lyrics are written by him together with his father, Einar Georg Einarsson, who is an Icelandic poet. His debut album is Dýrð í dauðaþögn, which appears in 2012. The album produces several successful singles in Iceland, including “Sumargestur”, “Leyndarmál”, “Dýrð í dauðaþögn” and “Hvítir skór”, the latter recorded with Blaz Roca and becoming a Christmas hit.

An English-language version of Dýrð í dauðaþögn, titled In the Silence, follows with new tracks and remixes. John Grant helps with translation and re-production on that release. Around this time, Ásgeir switches to using only his mononym internationally. Singles from this period include “King and Cross”, with John Grant appearing in the single release, “Going Home”, which charts in France, and “Torrent”, an English-language version of “Nýfallið regn”.

Later releases

After a period of touring across Europe, he releases Afterglow in 2017. The album moves away from the stripped-down folk-pop of his early work toward fuller, more atmospheric arrangements and richer production.

In 2020 he releases Sátt and its English version Bury the Moon. A year later he issues the EP The Sky Is Painted Gray Today, described by its sparse, gentle presentation. Time on My Hands follows in 2022, using synthesizers, brass and soft grooves, and a stripped-down version, Time on My Hands (Lo-Fi Version), appears in 2023. In 2025 he begins a new phase with Julia, on which he writes all the lyrics himself.