Only moments ago - and in the immediate aftermath of the Melodifestivalen! - one of the hot favourites to lift the coveted crystal trophy at the cancelled 2020 Eurovision Song Contest released their entry for Rotterdam in May: yes, say halló to Daði og Gagnamagnið and their song '10 Years'.
The 2020 Contest entry from Daði Freyr "and The Data" was the international juggernaut 'Think About Things', which saw the pixelated jumper-wearing group win international fans, attract celebrity endorsements and achieve chart success across Europe and in which Daði pondered on his newly born daughter's (Áróra) opinion on the world around her.
'10 Years' recounts a equally personal story, as it focuses on the 28-year-old, 6ft10 (2.08 m) lead singer's relationship with his wife Árný Fjóla Ásmundsdóttir, one of the five dancer/backing vocalist members of Gagnamagnið along with Daði's sister Sigrún Birna Pétursdóttir and the couple's friends Hulda Kristín Kolbrúnardóttir, Stefán Hannesson and Jóhann Sigurður Jóhannson.
In the song, Daði explains in heartfelt lyrics just how much Árný means to him, singing that the "good thing" that they got going is "ageing like wine" (a reference that I'm totally onboard with!). All whilst he and his five band mates are dressed in futuristic, Star Trek-esque jumpsuits - once again featuring the group's now iconic pixel art against *that* shade of green - and showing off some new "daggy" dance moves.
Despite the leak of the track earlier this week, which Icelandic broadcaster RÚV labelled 'clearly theft', '10 Years' officially premiered on the national music show Straumar, no doubt to the delight of the Contest's many "Daðistans" who had been keen to see a full, unadulterated, all-singing-and-dancing version of Iceland's 2021 entry.
Daði og Gagnamagnið's relationship with the Eurovision Song Contest began back in 2017, when the group competed in Iceland's Söngvakeppnin national final with 'Is This Love?', ultimately claiming the silver medal behind Svala and her song 'Paper'. Having won the 2020 edition of Söngvakeppnin convincingly only to see their dreams of performing at Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the group were confirmed as RÚV's internal selection for Iceland in 2021 back in October of last year.
Since debuting in 1986, Iceland has competed in 32 Contests, placed in the top ten on six occasions, and achieved its joint highest placing to date ten years apart in 1999 and 2009, when, respectively, Selma's 'All Out of Luck' and Yohanna's 'Is It True?' came in second behind fellow Nordic entries Charlotte Nilsson's 'Take Me To Your Heaven' and Alexander Rybak's 'Fairytale'.
The country's Eurovision track record has, however, been more chequered of late. Between 2015 and 2018 the country failed to qualify for the Grand Final, although the anti-capitalist, techno-industrial-punk-rock band Hatari did round out the top ten with their Icelandic entry 'Hatrið mun sigra' in Tel Aviv in 2019.
You can listen to '10 Years' and all the other 2021 Eurovision entries via the Aussievision playlist on Spotify: