SAKARIS

First up, the Faroe Islands are a quirky, sheep-dappled Danish dependency but their boy SAKARIS isn’t conforming to any stereotypes: rather than rustic remote soundscapes he plays pleasingly sharp electropop, on a big old keytar. Unexpected. - Si Hawkins, Clash Music

One of the many brilliant Faroese acts I saw at last weekend’s G! Festival, producer SAKARIS' facebook page describes his music as sending “the listener straight into a happy computer universe where 16-bit is the dominant technology”. Lyrics, it adds, come across “as if the Super Nintendo characters have left their adventurous worlds and have been struck by everyday reality and its problems”.
As well as being up there with the best things I’ve ever read in any artist biog, all that is actually a reasonably good description of how SAKARIS sounds on record. I’m always particularly drawn to pop with downbeat lyrics, and someone who has a song with lush electronic production called I'm Incredibly Depressed is about as far down that road as it’s possible to get.
Debut album I Have Beautiful Eyes features very layered production, taking some elements of the more mainstream end of current dance music and applying them with a more subtle touch to 80s-influenced songs. Live, with Joensen joined by a three-piece band, that 80s influence becomes even more pronounced – aided by the constant presence of a bright white keytar.
Highlights from his arsenal of tracks include In a Box and Pixieboy, though the one that most grabbed me is the album’s title track, I Have Beautiful Eyes, featuring vocals from Greta Svabo Bech, who was previously heard on Deadmau5's Raise Your Weapon. - Andy Malt, CMU

After this it's back over to the astro turf stage to see SAKARIS, a hotly tipped act with their debut album I Have Beautiful Eyes having just been released.
What follows is a half hour extravaganza of keytars, electronic drum kits and general getting on down. Complete brilliance from start to finish. No need to move stages then as Frostfelt are up next. Sounding not unlike Chris Martin, vocalist Líggjas Olsen soon has the crowd going with ‘Wake You Up’ & ‘I Have A TV Set’ . Another brilliant performance. Both of these acts have very bright futures. - Emmett Mullaney, State

Best of all are electro-poppers SAKARIS, a sort of sprightly cross between a-ha, Jesus Jones and MGMT. A great band. - Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk

But the highlight for me was a pair of fantastic electronic acts called SAKARIS and Frostfelt. Their gentle, personal songs have perhaps the most obvious appeal to a wider UK audience, but don't seem out of place in Syðrugøta, slotting perfectly into the festival's diverse bill. - Duncan Geere, Wired UK