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Jan 12, 2021 VAR By Caleb Campbell

Icelandic post rock band VAR is returning January 15 with a four song live EP taken from the band’s full-length debut, The Never-Ending Year. As a taste of the full performance, they’ve also debuted the live version of “Where To Find You,” premiering with Under the Radar. Due to the pandemic, the band was obviously unable to take the record on the road and perform it for fans. As a result, VAR wanted to give fans the raw live experience, opting for a series of performance videos over a single livestream. The performances were filmed at Orgelsmidjan, Iceland’s only organ workshop, which also doubles as a practice space for the band.

“Where To Find You” opens the band’s live EP, launching into the performance with one of the most anthemic cuts from The Never-Ending Year. The thunderous drumming and crushing layers of guitar sound powerfully vital. Coupled with a rich and sonorous vocal performance from frontman Júlíus Óttar Björgvinsson, the song has an instantly captivating effect that only gets more effective in a live setting. The accompanying video is also beautifully shot, bringing the listener into the intimacy and electric energy of the band’s live presence.

Júlíus Óttar Björgvinsson says of the project, “After releasing an album and having no chance to play it live, we felt like we had to do something to give people at least a little taste of us playing these songs live. VAR has always been about playing live and we always give everything we have to make the tension between us and the audience both peaceful and powerful. But since we could not play it live for people, we decided to make these live videos of us playing the songs at the organ workshop where we practice. We got our producer Eiður to do the sound for the videos and when he sent us the audio files Arnór brought that idea of releasing a live EP, because people had been asking us to do so. We were happy with the sound Eiður got from the session and how far it is from how the album sounds. It’s powerful, it’s raw and it’s honest. And that is VAR.” Check out the song below and presave the track on streaming services here.