What is it about Iceland that produces such stirring music? The tiny Nordic country seems to have developed its own cottage industry out of crafting festival-ready bands and folksingers to captivate audiences around the world with shimmering string arrangements, hushed vocals and quirky beats that sound as if they could have come from nowhere else. It is this music, and not haddock, that gives Iceland its most valuable export. Björk, múm, Emiliana Torrini, Ólöf Arnalds and Sigur Rós (whose frontman Jonsí recently composed the charming soundtrack to We Bought a Zoo) have all received warm welcomes on Australian tours, and now the latter group’s former string section, the sextet Amiina, returns for the Sydney Festival following their 2011 appearances in Perth.

What’s with the international fjord fever? Many artists, Björk among them, attribute the distinctive national character of Iceland’s contemporary music-making to the uniquely breathtaking landscape. While images of smoke and ash billowing from the glacial volcano Eyjafjallajökull may seem that much more poignant when accompanied by Sigur Rós’s powerful bowed electric guitar and soaring melodies, it’s worlds away from the delicate sounds woven together by Amiina in their solo work.

In any case, violinist/multi-instrumentalist Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir is quick to cite...