Kaktus Einarsson releases new album ‘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 is out now, on September 18th via One Little Independent Records, and 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. “The title Factoid Happiness actually came first,” he tells us. “The word ‘happiness’ had been sitting in my notebook for a long time, before most of the lyrics were written. A lot of the album grew out of that idea, questioning what happiness even is, and where we’re being told to find it. We’re constantly being sold things as ‘truths’; feelings, knowledge, lifestyles. Algorithms decide what we see, what we believe, even what we think will make us happy. But a lot of that is unproven. It’s a factoid. Something that feels true but isn’t necessarily real.
And it’s not always negative,” he continues. “Love is also a factoid. I can’t prove my partner loves me. I choose to trust it. But the same mechanism can also derail us, especially now that we consume fragments of mass media constantly, out of context, and mistake them for truth.”
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.
Kaktus goes on to say that the album’s propulsive opener, ‘Borrowed Dreams,’ is “about identity, about belonging, and how we mirror ourselves in others. That’s always existed but the scale is completely different now. We used to have role models on TV we’d never meet. Now we carry thousands of virtual humans in our pockets, available 24/7, and the comparison has become overwhelming. At the same time, we’re never alone. We’re always in the company of someone through a screen, yet loneliness is increasing.”
Ultimately, ‘Factoid Happiness’ proposes a single, reliable truth; when systems fail, connection remains. In choosing hope over cynicism, we choose to keep building a better future.
Kaktus Einarsson is an Icelandic artist whose music spans indie pop, electronic, and post-punk sensibilities. Born and raised in Reykjavík, he began performing as a child with experimental electronic acts and later rose to prominence as the frontman of the acclaimed band Fufanu.
