Axel Flóvent - Away From This Dream

Artiest/Band: Axel Flóvent Album: Away From This Dream Release Date: 07.06.2024 V2 Records Digging into a retro, 80s-inspired sound ‘Chasing The Night’ is an addictive slice of Icelandic pop built around a feel-good chorus, pulsing beats and echoed guitar.

‘Chasing The Night” is about the stubbornness of not being able to stop thinking about/working on something that feels unsatisfying no matter what it is,” says Axel. “You’re so unsatisfied with the result but also completely out of energy to make anything happen yet you still continue even though you see it get worse and worse.” 

The accompanying video is once again directed by Magnus Andersen who also directed the visuals for Axel’s recent singles ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ and ‘Have This Dance.’ As with ‘Have this Dance’ Axel keeps out of the video and instead leaves the work to a solo dancer Ahtayaw Ea to convey the song’s feelings through dance.

The track is Axel’s second release of 2024, following January’s ‘Have This Dance’ - both taken from his upcoming second album – Away From This Dream recorded and mixed in London with British producers MyRiot (London Grammar, Aurora) and out June 7. With ethereal soundscapes awash with gossamer synths, Away From This Dream sees an artist in his stride, leaning into life’s ebb and flows as he allows his signature sound to breathe and thrive, without being afraid to push his music into new territories.

Axel Flóvent: ‘I’ve always been a big fan of artists who evolve on each album. I don’t feel limited in terms of what I can do. It’s important for me to be able to explore a variety of sounds to show different sides of myself. I wanted to create an album I could perform with a band for a lot of people at a festival or you could listen to on headphones alone.’ Born and raised in the Northern fishing village of Húsavík, the world initially met Axel in 2015 when he unveiled his independent debut Forest Fires EP. The title track ‘Forest Fires’ eventually gathered north of 74 million Spotify streams and counting. He engaged audiences with his Quiet Eyes EP [2017], Tourist EP [2020], and full-length debut You Stay by the Sea [2021]. From the latter, ‘You Stay By The Sea’ tallied over 5.2 million Spotify streams followed by ‘Tourist’ with 4.7 million Spotify streams. His debut album was met with widespread critical applause, earning praise from The Line of Best Fit, Atwood Magazine,
NPR and American Songwriter among many other titles.

In 2022 he released the collaborative EP Coexist which featured collaborations with Tusks, Hayden Calnin, Plàsi, and Ciaran Lavery. Having now amassed over 100 million streams and counting, the future is looking exciting for the Icelandic musician.
Starting 2024 with a handful of successful headliner shows across The Netherlands and Iceland, Axel’s active touring schedule shows no signs of slowing down. Ahead of the new album, Axel embarks on two support stints across Denmark and Germany, and has been confirmed to play SXSW in Austin, Texas from 11th-16th March, with more international dates to be announced.