Ólafur Arnalds – Some Kind Of Peace - Piano Reworks - 2022 Minimal Neo Classical - Sealed LP

Written-By – Ólafur Arnalds

 

 

 

''The track order on the 2022 release mirrors that of the original. Icelandic pianist-composer Eydís Evensen’s take on opener “Loom” translates Arnalds’s and Bonobo’s jaunty synth-based composition into a more stately-paced classical piece that convinces in its own terms, with strings used to good effect, as they were on her own debut album Bylur last year. Lambert’s version of “Back to the Sky” is a good illustration of creative re-thinking. The beautiful, fragile vocal of JFDR from two years ago here gives way to delicate percussive effects that work so well. One hears the impress of the source, yet appreciates the well-expressed deviation. It’s one of the finest tracks on the new album, demonstrating that a considered approach does not have to be especially radical to prove convincing.

 

Arnalds’s own “Zero” has a lively gentle piano introduction leading into more forceful electronics before the string-based dying fade. Alfa Mist’s rendering has a more emphatic piano, with a forceful rhythm that, like Lambert’s piece, has echoes of 2020 without losing any sense of its independent worth. The lack of electronica gives the new version a vigour that makes it a fine complement to the first recording, yet also intrinsically convincing.'  (TheLineOfBestFit)