1999 · Album · Japis Records

Xeneizes

Released on October 25, 1999, Xeneizes was Quarashi's third album and by now, the band had stopped being Iceland's best-kept secret. Following the runaway success of Switchstance and their self-titled debut, Xeneizes arrived with serious momentum and did exactly what fans had come to expect: it exploded. The album sold out its 6,000-copy pressing and went gold in Iceland, but its real significance was much bigger than its sales. Xeneizes was the record that put Quarashi on the radar of the international music industry. By this point, foreign labels were paying attention. The band had already turned down several offers from UK labels when EMI Music Resources came calling. They had seen Quarashi performed at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival In the fall of 1999. They played two shows. The response was strong. And suddenly, the door to the rest of the world wasn't just cracked open, it was wide open. On August 31, 2000, Quarashi announced that they had signed a six-album deal with Columbia Records, marking the beginning of an entirely new chapter. The Icelandic band that had started out making music in a Reykjavík garage was now officially stepping onto the international stage. And even the album's name had a story. Xeneizes is the nickname given by fans to Argentine football giants Boca Juniors, a fitting title for a record made by a band that was already playing like they had something to prove. Xeneizes wasn't just another Quarashi album. It was the record that made the world start paying attention.