About

Born in the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsbær, a few kilometers outside of Reykjavík, the 25-year old composer has always enjoyed pushing boundaries with both his studio work and his live-shows. Through relentless touring and determination this young artist has steadily gained recognition worldwide. Labelled “a living musical film project”, Island Songs is a joint multimedia concept album by Arnalds and film director Baldvin Zophoníasson, both from Iceland. Aiming “to make a nice musical portrait of Iceland and the artists of Iceland you don’t hear about that often”, while also celebrating the country’s landscape and community spirit, the project was filmed and recorded during the summer 2016.

Filmed and recorded over seven weeks in seven locations around the island, Island Songs features collaborations with a string ensemble and seven local musicians or small orchestras. Starting on 21 June 2016 in the small harbour of Havammstangi (“population 582”), the composer introduces the album with spoken words from local poet Einar Georg Einarsson. In total contrast with Ólafur Arnalds’ wonderful experimental and upbeat electronic duo Kiasmos, the entire Island Songs album is imbued with a sense of calm and serenity with slow-paced compositions led by the musician on piano or synthesizer. In all instances, none of the performers have heard the songs before and each piece was rehearsed on the morning of the shot. All videos were then filmed live and in one take, adding an element of freshness and spontaneity to the whole experiment. — via Spellbinding Music

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Label: Mercury KX
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Green
Reissued: 2024 / Original Release: 2016
Genre: Electronic, Folk
Style: Nordic, Modern, Neo-Classical

File under: Ambient / Modern Classical
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