Sunna Gunnlaugs - Becoming (2023)

Icelandic pianist Sunna Gunnlaugs writes music that flows from a place of deep sincerity. She draws on experience and feeling to create compositions that evoke emotions and conjure images in her listeners. On her latest release Becoming she is joined by her long-time collaborators bassist Þorgrímur Jónsson and drummer Scott McLemore.

The trio’s bond is strong after over a decade of working together as evidenced by their robust yet subtle interactiveness and the eloquent soloing of all three members. "Becoming" is the 5th album Gunnlaugs has released with this trio. However, this is the first album since "Mindful" which features exclusively her own compositions.

These pieces, 7 in total, describe a longing to travel. This is perhaps understandable for someone living on an island in the North Atlantic. She has talked about her childhood fascination with Tin Tin going on adventures. This music takes the listener to places both imagined and real in a way that only Gunnlaugs’ signature Nordic-Americana could.