Icelandic pop duo VÆB are really stepping into their moment right now, and their new single ‘Gimme More’ feels like a pretty loud announcement that they’re here to stay. Dropping alongside their debut album ‘VÆBOUT’, this release feels like a proper turning point, the kind where a “breakthrough act” label starts to feel a bit too small.
If you’ve been following them since their Eurovision run, you’ll know things escalated fast after ‘RÓA’ landed in 2025. That track wasn’t just a win at Söngvakeppnin, it completely ran the show, sweeping public and jury votes before going on to make serious noise at Eurovision itself. It ended up becoming one of Iceland’s biggest Eurovision successes ever, only really sitting behind Daði Freyr’s now-iconic ‘Think About Things’. And even outside the contest bubble, it just kept growing, topping Shazam charts on the night of the Grand Final and racking up huge streaming numbers. Basically, it was one of those “you couldn’t escape it” songs in the best possible way.
Since then, VÆB (pronounced “VIBE”, which still feels very on-brand), brothers Matthias David Matthiasson and Halfdan Helgi Matthiasson, have been building something way bigger than a viral moment. Their ‘Boat Tour’ earlier this year was a proper statement, selling out venues across the UK and Europe and turning their shows into these almost fan-led events, complete with crowds dressed in silver and fully locked into the duo’s visual world.
Now they’re back with ‘Gimme More’, and it’s a fun one, but not in a throwaway way. It actually started life as a parody of an early-2000s Icelandic boyband idea, which already gives you a sense of their humour and self-awareness. But instead of leaving it as a joke, they’ve reshaped it completely. Same bones, melody, chords, but sped up, reworked, and pushed into this bright, slightly chaotic electro-swing-leaning pop direction. It’s maximal, playful, and very VÆB: serious about not taking itself too seriously.
There’s also a real sense that they’re enjoying the world they’ve built. Between singles like ‘Þetta reddast’ and ‘GAMERBOI’, plus their growing crossover into gaming (including their appearance in Honkai: Star Rail and contribution to “Side Quest King”), they’re clearly thinking beyond just “pop duo” and more like full-on digital culture characters.
With debut album ‘VÆBOUT’ on the way and a new European tour lined up, including a major London date at O2 Islington, everything feels like it’s scaling up quickly. And if ‘Gimme More’ is anything to go by, VÆB aren’t just riding momentum… they’re actively building their own universe out of it.