About Olof Arnalds
Olof Arnalds returns with a brand new album, ‘Palme’ - her fourth ��“ released via One Little Indian on 29th September. She
tours in the UK in late September/ early October.
‘Palme’ represents �“löf´s most collaborative effort to date, and also perhaps her most profoundly sensual & affecting.
Musically, it offers up an astonishing wellspring of fresh ideas and playful experimentation that move the sound on from
the acoustic approach that predominantly defined her first three records, ‘Við og Við’ (2007), ‘Innundir Skinni’ (2009)
and ‘Sudden Elevation’ (2013).
On ‘Palme’ �“löf is sensitively backed by trusted friends and collaborators; Gunnar ��”rn Tynes (founder of electro-folk
collective, múm) and once more by long-term musical foil, Skúli Sverrisson (who has also worked with such luminaries as
Laurie Anderson, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Blonde Redhead).
Lead single ‘Patience’, written by Skúli (who also shares writing credits for ‘Palme’ and ‘Soft Living’) boasts an almost
Polynesian vocal sway while ‘Defining Gender’s gentle bossa nova and swelling strings conspire to make it so tender it
threatens to burst at any moment. Elsewhere subtle electronics guide ‘Hypnose’s gentle propulsion and ‘Half Steady’s
strange, robotic cacophony. Some songs, such as ‘Turtledove’, are brand new, while others are old friends - ‘Half
Steady’ was written by �“löf while still in her teens.
Gunnar ��”rn Tynes significant presence on the record is felt through its programmed electronics and the digital
manipulation of some of the instrumental parts - new elements that pushed �“löf out of her comfort zone; for the first
time she was writing, performing and recording simultaneously, musical ideas intuitively pieced together or picked apart
as they went along. “Skúli, Gunni and I all contributed from our different experience, aesthetic and skills in a very open,
straight forward dialogue” says �“löf. “What worked best musically always ended up in the songs, the darlings were killed
with no regrets!”
In many cases the shape of the songs - even chord structures and melodies - were transformed entirely during the six
months of the record’s gestation. “It took a lot of trust to let my collaborators so far into my musical expression and at
times I found it a bit frightening”, acknowledges �“löf. “But now when I listen to the record, I feel that the music is no less
on my terms than in my previous work. It feels more like out of nowhere, the record I´ve always dreamed of making has
become a reality.”
The constant here, of course, is �“löf’s effortlessly distinctive vocal. A voice “that can silence a room, such is
its sweetness” once opined a bowled over Time Out NY, and here on ‘Palme’ it has never proven so
poignant nor powerfully intoxicating.
