Einarsson, Kaktus - Factoid Happiness

In a world saturated with misinformation and manufactured ideals of fulfilment, ‘Factoid Happiness’ asks a deceptively simple question; what is it that makes us happy? The third album from Icelandic stalwart, Kaktus Einarsson, seeks its answers in community, equality, and the quiet resilience of family.
 
Across ten tracks, Kaktus interrogates the systems that increasingly shape our emotional lives; algorithms, social media, and political polarisation. It explores how modern life dilutes attention, erodes certainty, and turns even our happiness into a commodification.
 
Musically, ‘Factoid Happiness’ is rich and varied, moving between intimate piano-led songwriting, warm indie-rock, funk-leaning grooves, disco-inflected rhythms, and electronic textures. It reflects Kaktus’s background as a songwriter who has moved fluidly between underground experimentation and sophisticated pop. The LP also features contributions from John Grant, RAKEL, Thibault Gomez, and Jessica Winter.
 
In an era shaped by division and distraction, ‘Factoid Happiness’ argues that family (biological, chosen, romantic, or platonic) is how we stay connected and resist a in fractured world.

“A revelatory live experience, Kaktus Einarsson wields the kind of swagger and attitude all too uncommon in this kind of music” – Stereogum

“Breathtaking and unpredictable, imaginative and stunningly beautiful. Just like his native Iceland” – Louder Than War

“Joyful” – NME