“I wasn’t planning on recording an album or releasing any of my songs,” says Icelandic singer-songwriter Ásgeir. “I just called a producer and wanted to record one track. He liked the music and a few weeks later we released an album.” The resulting release Dyrd í dauðathogn became a record-breaking phenomenon after it was released in September 2012: the biggest selling Icelandic debut album by a homegrown artist, with one in ten of Iceland’s population now owning a copy. This month, the English language version of the album In The Silence was released on One Little Indian, translated by the American folk artist John Grant and featuring standout track “Going Home,” showcased in this otherworldly music video directed by local filmmaker and artist Máni Sigfússon. “I wanted to capture characters frozen in time, their surroundings changing around them as the world gets more distorted, all up until the point where they find peace and a new home,” says Sigfússon, who is currently collaborating on live concert visuals for Icelandic musicians Sin Fang and Högni Egilsson. Ásgeir is quick to attribute his success to his own home life and upbringing; both his parents are artists and all five of his siblings play an instrument. “I was starting writing songs when I was 10 and my father’s poetry was all over the house,” he says. “For this album, I wrote the music first, then he wrote the lyrics to that.”

“Going Home” / “Dreaming” is released April 7 and “Here It Comes” / “Heart-Shaped Box” is released April 19 for Record Store Day