· By John Frazier
New VAR "Live at Orgelsmidjan" EP Available Now
After the release of VAR's debut full length, The Never-Ending Year, and amidst the global pandemic, opportunities to perform the record live were nonexistent. "We felt like we had to do something to give people at least a little taste of us playing these songs live," says Júlíus Óttar Björgvinsson, "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." After some discussion, the next best option in lieu of live performance was a series of live performance videos, filmed at the organ workshop where the band practices. "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. We were happy with the sound he 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."
VAR's Live at Orgelsmidjan EP is available at streaming outlets everywhere now. Watch the band perform the song “Where To Find You” at Under the Radar and get the EP everywhere you listen to music here.