Ólafur Arnalds Announces New Album: ‘Some Kind Of Peace’

Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and composer Ólafur Arnalds has announced his new album, Some Kind Of Peace, will be released on 6 November 2020. The album was inspired by a conversation Ólafur Arnalds had with a close friend. “He started talking about how we can’t control anything that happens to us,” Ólafur recalled. “All we can do is control how we react to what life gives us. That just totally clicked; to me the music symbolises that reaction. It was one of those moments where suddenly everything you’re doing makes sense.”

“It is a personal album, my most personal to date …”

Some Kind Of Peace is a personal journey told through Ólafur Arnalds’ introspective music, against the backdrop of a chaotic world. Ólafur explained, “This album is about what it means to be alive, daring to be vulnerable and the importance of rituals. It is a personal album, my most personal to date, set against a background of a world thrown into chaos. I’ve poured all my love, dreams and fears into this album through a magical but difficult process, but the result is something that makes me immensely proud and happy to be doing what I do.”

All the collaborators on the album were key to Ólafur’s life during the making of the album, including British musician Bonobo, Icelandic singer and multi-instrumentalist JFDR who Ólafur has admired for years, and his friend Josin, a German singer-songwriter.

“A superstar of contemporary instrumental music” – Financial Times

Ólafur Arnalds had been described as, “A superstar of contemporary instrumental music” by the Financial Times. His captivating music combines elements of ambient, classical, electronic, pop and rock. Some Kind Of Peace is Ólafur Arnalds’ most revealing album – it is about his experiences of the past year and the new life changes and perspectives, including the possibilities of love and settling down, they brought. By the time the global pandemic struck he had already written half the album and the rest flowed freely. “This album is almost an awakening for me to a completely new life that I don’t think I would have been ready for otherwise. I’m in a very happy relationship now that I don’t think I would be if I hadn’t had the shock to my system, because I just wouldn’t have been open to it. So this album is very much about love, and not being afraid of it.”

Watch the video for new single ‘We Contain Multitudes’

‘We Contain Multitudes’, the new single released today, “was written at a friend’s cabin in a jungle, late at night, on a tiny electric keyboard,” said Ólafur Arnalds. “At the time I had spent so much time away from what I had considered home, almost setting up a separate life on the other side of the planet. My mind was going through a process of learning to live in two vastly different cultures, of recognising that within one body there are multitudes of different and often contradictory facets of personality. The song remains a reminder that our minds are not constants, the self is ever evolving.”

“This album is much closer to my heart than any of the others”

Ólafur Arnalds weaves real-world pieces of his life story throughout Some Kind Of Peace revealing his most personal record to date. “It’s so personal that I’m still trying to find the words to talk about it,” he said with a smile. “I felt it was important that the album would tell my story in a very honest way. This album is much closer to my heart than any of the others.” Throughout the recording Ólafur Arnalds urges you to accept all that life throws at you, to contemplate, and to choose how you react, to find your kind of peace.

Ólafur Arnalds’ new album Some Kind Of Peace will be released on 6 November 2020 and can be pre-ordered here.

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