Kaktus Einarsson - Factoid Happiness out September 18th via One Little Independent Records
Feat. John Grant, RAKEL, Thibault Gomez, and Jessica Winter
“A revelatory live experience, Kaktus Einarsson wields the kind of swagger and attitude all too uncommon in this kind of music” – Stereogum
“Breathtaking and unpredictable, imaginative and stunningly beautiful. Just like his native Iceland” – Louder Than War
“Joyful” – NME
In a world saturated with misinformation and manufactured ideals of fulfilment, ‘Factoid Happiness’ asks a deceptively simple question; what is it that makes us happy? The third album from Icelandic stalwart Kaktus Einarsson is out on September 18th via One Little Independent Records, and seeks its answers in community, equality, and the quiet resilience of family.
Across ten tracks, Kaktus interrogates the systems that increasingly shape our emotional lives; algorithms, social media, and political polarisation. It explores how modern life dilutes attention, erodes certainty, and turns even our happiness into a commodification. “The title Factoid Happiness actually came first,” he tells us. “The word ‘happiness’ had been sitting in my notebook for a long time, before most of the lyrics were written. A lot of the album grew out of that idea, questioning what happiness even is, and where we’re being told to find it. We’re constantly being sold things as ‘truths’; feelings, knowledge, lifestyles. Algorithms decide what we see, what we believe, even what we think will make us happy. But a lot of that is unproven. It’s a factoid. Something that feels true but isn’t necessarily real.
And it’s not always negative,” he continues. “Love is also a factoid. I can’t prove my partner loves me. I choose to trust it. But the same mechanism can also derail us, especially now that we consume fragments of mass media constantly, out of context, and mistake them for truth.”
Musically, ‘Factoid Happiness’ is rich and varied, moving between intimate piano-led songwriting, warm indie-rock, funk-leaning grooves, disco-inflected rhythms, and electronic textures. It reflects Kaktus’s background as a songwriter who has moved fluidly between underground experimentation and sophisticated pop. The LP also features contributions from John Grant, RAKEL, Thibault Gomez, and Jessica Winter.
In an era shaped by division and distraction, ‘Factoid Happiness’ argues that family (biological, chosen, romantic, or platonic) is how we stay connected and resist a in fractured world.
Kaktus goes on to say that the album’s propulsive opener, ‘Borrowed Dreams,’ is “about identity, about belonging, and how we mirror ourselves in others. That’s always existed but the scale is completely different now. We used to have role models on TV we’d never meet. Now we carry thousands of virtual humans in our pockets, available 24/7, and the comparison has become overwhelming. At the same time, we’re never alone. We’re always in the company of someone through a screen, yet loneliness is increasing.”
‘Glycerine’ is juxtaposingly upbeat and alive with optimism, about love developing over time. “It’s about the bliss and momentum of love, from the first spark of a crush into something deeper. Part of it was inspired by a holiday in Portugal, sailing down the Douro River at sunset with my partner and my family. It was one of those rare moments where time feels suspended. The lyric referencing ‘longest day’ comes from Iceland’s 24-hour daylight. The sun barely sets. That became a way of talking about feelings stretching, deepening, and ageing alongside you. There’s also a rap verse, which was not planned. I’d lined up a feature that fell through, so I demoed it myself. When we heard it back, it felt too honest to remove. It might be my shy moment on the album, but it had to stay.”
‘The Decipherer’ is a more inward-looking duet featuring fellow Icelandic artist RAKEL, about anxiety and being understood. “It’s about the moment when my partner reads me like an open book, when my mind is spiralling and I’m not really in my body anymore. There’s that image of two people sitting next to each other, phones lighting up the walls, connected to everyone else but each other. And then there’s the emotional side, going to bed with tension, waking up and realising it’s gone. I have a tendency to imagine worst-case scenarios. Having someone who can see that in you, and stop it before it escalates, is incredibly grounding. Working with RAKEL again felt natural. We have a strong musical and personal relationship, and I wanted her to truly be part of the album, not just a background presence.”
‘Burning Snow’ is rooted in parenthood. “It’s about being a guardian. Being one of the two most important people in my kids’ lives means I often have to level myself to their emotional state, to absorb their fear, their sadness, their storms.” Meanwhile, the vulnerable ‘New Perfume’ is about loss and missing someone. “I went through a period where I felt really down, lost in many ways. I tried to distract myself by reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones, pretending I was okay. But nothing compared to the comfort of my best friend, who was far away dealing with his own life. When we finally caught up, he saw straight through me.”
Of ‘Situated Lovers,’ he says, “It’s easy to read it as a troubled love song, and maybe it is, but it’s really about us. About how we’re situated in a world of dramatic change. I live in Iceland. It’s peaceful, isolated. I walk my kids home from school, and life feels calm. Then you turn on the news and realise how brutal the world is elsewhere. There’s a strange guilt in that, a discomfort with privilege.”
American singer-songwriter John Grant features on ‘Follow.’ “This came from a real moment. I was walking home from preschool with my kids when we passed an American tourist live-streaming on our Pride-coloured street in Reykjavík, preaching homophobic ideas and blaming Iceland’s volcanic eruptions on our acceptance of queer people. She tried to involve me, assuming I was a straight man who’d agree with her. That didn’t go the way she expected.
That moment stayed with me. Later, over an iced latte with my friend John Grant, I read him the lyrics and immediately knew his voice had to be part of the song. He’s someone who survived that exact environment and broke free from it.”
The album’s political arc continues on ‘Another Feel.’ “It was written while flying to Ohio, just after the Trump administration announced plans to ban trans people. It felt surreal crossing the Atlantic, wondering what kind of country I was arriving in. The song is about choosing love in a world that seems determined to suppress it.”
The emotional crux of the album climaxes with ‘Lemon Taste.’ “It’s about how quickly emotions are consumed and discarded now, sadness replaced by distraction, depth replaced by scrolling. But no matter what the day brings, my feelings for my family only grow stronger. That’s the anchor. That’s what doesn’t disappear.”
Closer ‘3rd Time’ features London-based rising star Jessica Winter. “It’s about polarisation, about hearing arguments you don’t agree with, understanding where they come from, but still feeling that something essential is missing. It’s easy to sell beliefs. It’s easy to repeat something until it sounds true. That terrifies me. When this song ends the album, it really feels like the question the whole record has been asking; where does real happiness exist, if not in certainty or ideology?”
Ultimately, ‘Factoid Happiness’ proposes a single, reliable truth; when systems fail, connection remains. In choosing hope over cynicism, we choose to keep building a better future.
Kaktus Einarsson is an Icelandic artist whose music spans indie pop, electronic, and post-punk sensibilities. Born and raised in Reykjavík, he began performing as a child with experimental electronic acts and later rose to prominence as the frontman of the acclaimed band Fufanu.
His solo work blurs genres, combining lush melodies with inventive production and autobiographical themes. His debut solo album ‘Kick the Ladder’, released in 2021, showcased his ability to merge classical instrumentation with electronic textures, and his 2024 album ‘Lobster Coda’ featured collaborations with notable artists such as Nanna of Of Monsters and Men and Damon Albarn.
Tracklist
- Borrowed Dreams (with Thibault Gomez)
- Glycerine
- The Decipherer (with Rakel)
- Burning Snow
- New Perfume
- Situated Lovers
- Follow (with John Grant)
- Another Feel
- Lemon Taste
- 3rd Time (with Jessica Winter)
Music credits
- All songs, lyrics and music written, performed and produced by Kaktus Einarsson
- Additional writing, instrument performances and production on all songs by Thibault Gomez
- Additional guitars in all songs by Albert Finnbogason
- Additional vocal performance on ‘Borrowed Dreams’ by Thibault Gomez
- Additional vocal performance on ‘The Dechipherer’ by Rakel Sigurðardóttir
- Additional vocal performance on ‘Follow’ by John Grant
- Additional vocal performance on ‘3rd Time’ by Jessica Winter
- Drums by Ólafur Björn Ólafsson
- Percussion by Svanhildur Lóa Bergsveinsdóttir
- Double Bass on ‘3rd Time’ and ‘Another Feel’ by Óttar Sæmundsen
- Additional vocal engineering by Krinks on ‘3rd Time’
- Feedbacks by Birgir Ísleifur Gunnarsson and Erling Bang
- Drums and various guitar parts recorded by Albert Finnbogason in Uslandia
- All Songs Mixed by Stephen Sedgwick in London
- Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studio, London
- Recorded by Kaktus Einarsson in Reykjavík at Kaktus’s Studio Frakkland
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For all UK press enquiries please contact Stefan.Hayes@V2Benelux.com
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