The Lighthouse Project

Biography

Amiina is a name used by several artists, including: 1. An Icelandic strings group. 2. amiinA, a Japanese female idol duo. 1. Originally a string quartet formed by four women (Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir, Hildur Ársælsdóttir, María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir and Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir) at the Reykjavík College of Music in the late 1990s, Amiina went on to cut its teeth as Sigur Rós' string section for the next decade. Now a sextet after a recent masculine infusion, Amiina released its second full lengt...

Amiina is a name used by several artists, including:

1. An Icelandic strings group.
2. amiinA, a Japanese female idol duo.

1. Originally a string quartet formed by four women (Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir, Hildur Ársælsdóttir, María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir and Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir) at the Reykjavík College of Music in the late 1990s, Amiina went on to cut its teeth as Sigur Rós' string section for the next decade. Now a sextet after a recent masculine infusion, Amiina released its second full length album, Puzzle, in September 2010.

Amiina's debut album, Kurr (2007), was performed on a disparate jumble of instruments – musical saws, kalimbas, music boxes and seemingly anything that could be plucked, bowed or beaten on – resulting in a work that ebbed and flowed “in a strange, powerful place between sophistication and innocence,” according to The Guardian.

While the above is equally true of Puzzle, this time around the group's sonic palette is broadened by the contributions of drummer Magnús Trygvason Eliassen and electronic artist Kippi Kaninus (Guðmundur Vignir Karlsson), permanent members of the group since 2009. Accordingly, the songs on Puzzle are more rhythmically rugged than amiina's previous work and feature heavier use of electronics. amiina's long-standing fondness for zero-g melodies and open-minded instrumentation, however, continues.

2. amiinA (initially spelled as あみいな) is a Japanese idol group that was founded in 2012. Their name arose as a combination of the two founding members' names, Yamanoi Ami and Kawai Miina. Both members were models in the popular magazine "Nico☆Petit".

In August of 2012, amiina performed for the first time at an event held by their management company at the time, MYM Melody. The group initially performed covers of songs by AKB48 and Momoiro Clover Z, but they were soon given original music created by Saitou Shuuichi of the creative team nanoline.

Their first single "1☆2☆3☆ / Mind Travel" was released one year later, and with it, the group changed the spelling of their name to "amiina".

In 2014, the group attracted the attention of fans of alternative idols when Nanba Kazumi introduced their song "Mind Travel" on his popular internet show, and included it on the "Japan Idol File" compilation series. Their second single "Drop / RunBlue" was released soon after.

amiina's third single "Canvas / ○△□" was released in 2015, and was their first to be distributed digitally through the popular music site OTOTOY. Later that year, amiina released a collaborative EP with the electronic / rap idol group Koutei Camera Girl, featuring a remix of their single "Canvas" (with additional vocals by Koutei Camera Girl members molmo mol and mashly domestic) and appearing as featured vocalists on Koutei Camera Girl's representative song "Her L Bo She".

Kawai Miina withdrew from the group in February of 2016 . In March, the spelling of the group's name was changed to amiinA, and new member miyu joined in May.

The meaning of the new generation of amiinA is given as "awake mind into ideal naked Avalon". The fourth single, and first to feature miyu, "Atlas", will be released in August of 2016.

The music of amiinA covers various genres, from ambient electronic pop, to post-rock and folk.
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