Olafur Arnalds

Olafur Arnalds (born 1987) is an Icelandic artist. He began studying music at the age of five and discovered a particular interest in original film tapes and classical music at the age of 14. Initially drummer for the band Fastcore Fighting Shit, collaborating with Celestine and composing parts of songs for Heaven Shall Burn, it was around 2007 that he decided to devote himself to his solo career with the release of his first album, Eulogy For Evolution on the London label Erased Tapes. Several eps will be released later ( Variations Of Statics in 2008, Dyad 1909 in 2009), as well as several conceptual albums. The first of them, Found Songs (2009), was composed and mixed in one week, one song a day, played after 24 hours on the label website. Two years later, Olafur Arnalds returned with Living Room Songs (2011), an album this time fully recorded in his living room, with a piano, two violins and a cello, for intimate and always minimalist music. He also composed original film tapes, notably for Another Happy Day (2012) and Gimme Shelter (2013), before being widely known for his composition on the British Broadchurch series (2015), which contributed to his success today. In 2015, he was released with Alice Sara Ott, The Chopin Project , featuring classics by the great composer who inspired him. It was in 2016 that he released Island Songs, a collaboration project with other Icelandic artists and musicians during a seven-week trip to seven different places in Iceland, where Nanna Bryndís, a singer in the band Of Monsters And Men, and the South Iceland Chamber Choir, appeared. Meanwhile, Olafur Arnalds released his second solo album, ...And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness (2010), as well as For Now I Am Winter (2013) featuring four songs composed with voices, sung by Arnór Dan, singer of the Icelandic progressive rock band Agent Fresco. It was in 2018 that his fourth album Re:member was released, incorporating more and more Electro sounds as well as beats and drum beats, Olafur having called for the occasion musicians from the Hip-Hop milieu in particular. Eulogy For Evolution sees himself remastered for the anniversary of his ten years in 2017 by Nils Frahm , Berlin musician of the New Classic / Ambient scene, with whom the Icelandic will make several musical collaborations. Olafur Arnalds made numerous tours in Europe, Asia and America, making his debut in the first games for Sigur Ros and Björk in particular. In parallel and since 2009, he also plays in his minimal techno project Kiasmos, with Janus Rasmussen, musician of the Bloodgroup project.