Emilíana Torrini

An Icelandic singer/songwriter whose music embraces elements of folk, electronica, pop/rock, and trip-hop, Emiliana Torrini has earned favorable comparisons to such vocally gifted artists as Beth Hirsch, Kirsty Hawkshaw, and Björk. Torrini was raised in Kópavogur, where she worked at her father's Italian restaurant and attended opera school as a teenager. After releasing three albums in her native Iceland (Spoon, Crouçie D'où Là, and Merman), she joined forces with Tears for Fears' Roland Orzabal to produce her first widely released album, 1999's Love in the Time of Science. The famed Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson heard her cool, otherworldly croon and approved Torrini to voice the finale music for 2002's The Two Towers, a job that Björk had previously accepted before backing out due to pregnancy. Torrini followed up this cinematic achievement by co-writing a pair of songs for Kylie Minogue (including the number one hit single "Slow") and releasing the soft-spoken but beautiful Fisherman's Woman, her first album for the London-based label Rough Trade Records. Fisherman's Woman was a back-to-basics effort that deemphasized Torrini's use of electronics in favor of acoustic guitar, piano, and the singer's cherubic vocals. It also cemented her fruitful partnership with producer Dan Carey, who remained with Torrini during the recording of her next solo effort, 2008's Me and Armini. ~ Andrew Leahey & MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi