Bubbi Morthens // 1000 kossa nótt

I'm not going to risk much betting that you've never heard the name Bubbi Morthens ( Ásbjörn Kristinsson Morthens for his real name), and yet this singer, born in 1956, is one of Iceland's biggest-selling records.

Alternating with his prolific solo career, he also participated in several groups, including Utangarðsmenn (a punk band that played as the opening act for The Clash , all the same!), Egó, MX-21, GCD but above all the excellent Das Kapital also proposed by Island.

Over time, he has explored just about every genre imaginable: country, Cuban music, rap, traditional songs. Not always with equal success, it must be admitted, but he can be credited for not resting on his laurels.

Among the forty or so albums he has contributed to or written, Ísland has selected the folky 1000 kossa nótt (1000 kisses a night, 2003), which reaches its "fireside vigil" peak with Fastur liður and Þorpið (Le Village, 2012), in a slightly more “song” vein.

Without me being able to judge, it is also said that his texts are very politically engaged, alongside the working classes and the most deprived, as they used to say in the time of Springsteen and Dylan .

Finally, for the socialite directory, he is also the nephew of the crooner Haukur Morthens from whom Ísland imported a magnificent double album.