Daughters of Reykjavík unveil Eurovision single ‘Turn This Around’ – watch
The empowering hip-hop collective are hoping to represent Iceland
By Joe Goggins
Daughters of Reykjavík have revealed the video for their Eurovision Song Contest entry.
The eight-piece hip-hop collective have made waves in their native Iceland and beyond with their deeply feminist and often provocative lyricism, as well as their riotous live shows and outspoken media presence. Their last record, ‘Soft Spot’, met with rave reviews on release in 2020.
Now, they’re aiming to fly the flag for Iceland at Eurovision, with a specially-penned new track, ‘Turn This Around’. They are currently battling through the televised local finals, Söngvakeppnin, and are firm favourites to win the right to represent Iceland at the 66th edition of the contest in Turin on May 14.
Discussing the track in a press release, Daughters of Reykjavík said: “Turn This Around is a song that represents the energy Daughters of Reykjavík possess and give. It is a song made to inspire people to move, to change, to take action and to love themselves and others. It represents the space we can take up if we so choose as well as the things we can give.”
In the newly-released, sci-fi-inspired video for ‘Turn This Around’, which you can watch above, the individual members of the group show off their multidisciplinary talents as artists. To mark the occasion, they’ve also released a cover version of ‘All Out of Luck’, the 1999 track by Selma Björnsdóttir that saw Iceland record their best-ever result at Eurovision, second place.
In May, Daughters of Reykjavík will hope to go one better. In keeping with tradition, the competition is being held in the home country of last year’s winners, the Italian rock outfit Måneskin, who clinched the prize with their track ‘Zitti e buoni’. They’ve since gone on to have a UK platinum-certified single with ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’, and have appeared on a slew of high-profile late-night talk shows in the U.S.
It comes after the group previously told Rolling Stone UK about their 2020 hit ‘Hot MILF Summer’, which tackled the challenges of motherhood and misogyny by way of a rousing rap track.
Last week, Eurovision confirmed that Russia would not be permitted to compete at this year’s contest after the invasion of Ukraine, nixing an initial decision to allow them to attend as planned. The UK’s representative for 2022 will be announced by March 10.