FM Belfast

FM Belfast, an electro-pop ensemble from Iceland, came into being during 2005 thanks to the efforts of Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson alongside Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir. Two years afterward, they brought aboard Árni Vilhjálmsson together with Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason—known for his role in the experimental electronic outfit Múm—to perform live at the Iceland Airwaves festival. Depending on the show, the collective's roster shifts between three and eight participants. Additional contributors linked to the project encompass Sveinbjorn Hermann Pálsson, Haraldur Agnar Civelek, Björn Kristjánsson, Birgitta Birgisdóttir, plus Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson. Their initial commercial appearance arrived via a featured spot on Kasper Bjørke's Back & Spine EP back in 2007. By 2008 the core trio of Hlöðversson, Hjálmtýsdóttir and Vilhjálmsson established World Champion Records, through which they issued the band's inaugural full-length effort How to Make Friends. Featured on that record was the track "Lotus," their reinterpretation of Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name," issued to promote the project. Following an extensive touring period spanning two years, the musicians turned their attention toward crafting the follow-up Don't Want to Sleep, which surfaced during the summer of 2011.