Iceland Post-Rockers VAR Get Back to Basics With “Run” (premiere)

Icelandic outfit VAR release The Never-Ending Year on 24 April via Spartan Records. In anticipation of the full-length, the band have released their latest single, “Run”. With the zeal of We Were Promised Jet Packs and the intelligence of Frightened Rabbit, VAR create a warm, emotionally driven slice of post-rock that unfolds in unexpected ways. “Run” is as refreshing as it is enjoyable.

Speaking about “Run”, guitarist/pianist Arnór Jónasson says, “It came together very quickly in the writing process. We had gone through it at rehearsals but weren’t sure if it fit on the record. When we were working with our producer, he asked if we had some other ideas. We played him some parts of “Run”, and he said that there was no chance that we were skipping this song.”

“You could say that ‘Run’ is a bit of a return to our roots. We wrote it when we had just started rehearsing in my dad’s garage again, like me and Egill [Björgvinsson] did when we were young. That might have had some influence on the songwriting”, adds vocalist/guitarist/pianist Júlíus Óttar. “We played faster and louder. We were not sure about how it would fit in with other songs on the album, as we felt it had a different vibe, more pop than the other songs, but our producer, Eiður, said we should keep it. The song is about being there for your friends. Sticking by them through their difficult times, to go the distance for them, to run if they run.”