Reykjavík Grapevine - nóv. 2020, Blaðsíða 12

The dreamer
Sometimes an album or a song
comes along at a point where it
feels like it’s exactly what the
world needed. Ólafur Arnalds’ lat-
est offering, ‘Some Kind of Peace’,
is one of those albums. Described
as his most intimate album yet,
‘Some Kind of Peace’ has been
hailed by fans and critics alike as
the perfect haven in this time of
chaos and uncertainty.
A serendipitous
alignment
Although Ólafur is quick to point
out that this is by no means a “CO-
VID album,” he appreciates the
serendipitous alignment of events
that has occurred leading to the
album’s release and the impact his
music is having as a result.
“The album was really focused
on the ideas of community and
rituals and doing things that are
really pure and
from the heart.
All of these things
became super
important to us,
or rather, it be-
came obvious to
us how important
they are, when the
pandemic hit,”
he explains. “Our
daily rituals were
suddenly taken
away from us and we noticed their
importance. We started looking
more closely for community and
really feeling the importance of
that. So, for me, it just reaffirmed
the direction I was going in. It
wasn’t created from the pandemic
but it definitely happened to fit
right into it. It’s
lovely.”
Born from a de-
sire to take him-
self back to his
roots, ‘Some Kind
Of Peace’ strips
away the lavish
compositions and
cinematic sounds
that have become
synonymous with
Ólafur’s name, to
reveal something a little more raw
and vulnerable.
“It’s not that my music isn’t al-
ways personal,” he explains. “It’s
Culture 12The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 09— 2020
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“Music, in es-
sence, is a ritual.
It’s a communal
ritual that we
take to reach a
higher state of
consciousness.”
Some Kind of
Peace In A World
Full Of Chaos
Ólafur Arnalds on his most intimate album
to date, and the importance of community
and ritual in a world !one mad

Words: Jess Distill Photos: Art Bicnick