Formed in 2005, Icelandic rock band Ourlives is made up of Jón Björn Árnason and Leifur Kristinsson. Their music has been featured in many TV shows, such as NBC’s About a Boy, MTV’s Awkward, and ABC Family’s (now FREEFORM) The Fosters and Pretty Little Liars.
The title track off their carefully curated b-sides album (a follow-up to 2014’s Den of Lions) Higher Hopes is a relaxed, mellow melody perfect for those laid back summer nights. It’s easy to get lost in the strum of the guitar and Árnason and Kristinsson’s vocals as they sing about their hopes and inner conflicts with lyrics like “let’s toast to what’s to come, enjoy everyone,” and “I still need a reason to get out of this home, my eyes say yes but my feet won’t let me go.” The intermingling of the guitar and violin strings create a serene, happy song that you’ll love until the last note as they sing, “everything’s just fine…”
Says bassist/vocalist Jón Björn Árnason of the track, “‘Higher Hopes’ is a light hearted view of the Icelandic summer from a rather negative perspective. Me and Leifur were downtown in Reykjavik and the midnight sun was being weird, like it usually is here in Iceland, when we got the idea for the song.”
Higher Hopes is out July 29th and is currently available for preorder. All preorders come with an instant download of “Higher Hopes”.
