Laminar Flow, a personal favorite worth turning up the volume for and a name you remember, leans towards immersive, modestly adventurous yet modest indie rock with this wonderfully atmospheric, poetically appealing new track Sultan.
Laminar Flow is a band from the harbor town of Hafnarfjörur in Iceland. The band began in
2019 as an indie rock band with no aspirations other than to play a few live shows, but it quickly evolved into something more mature and progressive while remaining faithful to its initial style. In 2020, the band recorded three singles, the third of which, strangely titled “Summer Fling,” reached the top ten in a new radio competition called “Sykurmolinn.” The band immediately returned to the studio and recorded two more singles, both of which have since been published and are now making their live debuts. Laminar Flow draws inspiration from long-forgotten 80s synth-pop bands, offering powerful riffs and dramatic vocals, while the lyrics have been described as enigmatic and sardonic. The band is currently working on a new EP and intends to perform live this autumn.
As go by, the intensity grows, and the gravity of the soundscape envelops its audience even
more. However, you crave interaction with the lyrics — the title, and indeed each little sentence, drags you in, and the rhythm holds you there, mesmerizing in its indie-rock loops.
Sultan feeds into the Laminar Flow style but more significantly feels like an easygoing and
timeless song; alternative yet appealing on a broader level, composed of unusually raw
elements ranging from the spacious beat to the retro canned vocal to the regular crash of the
drums.
The hook has an irresistible simplicity about it, and it boldly completes the single. The concept also piques our curiosity as listeners, enticing us to return, and with each new session, we become more used to and interested in the sound of Sultan.
