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ÓLAFUR ARNALDS AND MERCURY CLASSICS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP
Ólafur Arnalds, the Icelandic composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, has entered into a partnership with Mercury Classics in a deal which will see the label releasing Arnalds’ classically-influenced work.
Arnalds, 26, has built up a huge international following and is already established in the music industry for his genre-crossing compositions blending classical, pop and ambient/electronica influences to a unique musical language. He is also well known for his work on scores for film and television, where he mixes acoustic strings and piano with modern electronic sounds.
Arnalds’ new album For Now I Am Winter is scheduled for release on Mercury Classics via Universal Music Malaysia on 18th March 2013, and expands on Arnalds’ original explorations of minimal sound and electronic style by featuring a full orchestra and – for the first time – introducing vocals to his soundworld. Icelandic singer Arnór Dan is to be heard on four tracks of the album.
This new partnership with Mercury Classics will bridge and connect the worlds of classical and popular music. Following the label’s philosophy, it aims to support boundary-breaking artists such as Arnalds to gain and expand a worldwide audience at the same time as allowing his music to remain uncompromised and his artistic autonomy untouched, news that will appeal to Arnalds’ 68,000 Facebook followers and other fans.
Scheduled for the near future, Arnalds plans to continue to work extensively as a touring artist, in addition to writing more scores for film and TV. For 2013 his scores include the music to the new ITV thriller series Broadchurch, starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman, as well as to the film Gimme Shelter, directed by Ron Krauss and starring Vanessa Hudgens and Brendan Fraser. Arnalds’ track Allt Varð Hljótt featured on the soundtrack for the major feature film The Hunger Games earlier this year.
On signing this new contract, Arnalds said: “I’m very excited about this new partnership with Mercury Classics. This new album is rather different from my previous work, so this seemed like the perfect time to join the team at Mercury Classics where I can keep my artistic freedom and maintain my high production values. I am confident that Alexander and his team will prove a great asset for me in expanding both my artistry and bringing my music to new audiences.” Dr. Alexander Buhr, Managing Director of Mercury Classics, responded: “Ólafur Arnalds is one of those rare genre-crossing artists who has created a soundworld that is completely his own. He is an outstanding creative mind and we are thrilled to welcome him to Mercury Classics.”
Max Hole, Chief Operating Officer, Universal Music Group International, commented: “Mercury Classics is a unique home for imaginative and exciting talent, and I’m delighted that one of its first signings is such a gifted, original composer.”
For a limited period of time, Arnalds’ first single of ‘Old Skin featuring Arnór Dan is available for free download on the link below.
http://smarturl.it/olafur-freesong-rg
‘For Now I Am Winter’ will be available nationwide on 18th March 2013. Preview and purchase the album via iTunes on the link below.
http://umusic.ly/OA-ForNowImWinter
TRACKLISTING:
1. Sudden Throw
2. Brim
3. For Now I Am Winter featuring Arnor Dan
4. A Stutter featuring Arnor Dan
5. Words Of Amber
6. Reclaim featuring Arnor Dan
7. Hands, Be Still
8. Only The Winds
9. Old Skins featuring Arnor Dan – 1st Single
10. We (Too) Shall Rest
11. This Place Was A Shelter
12. Carry Me Anew
13. No Other featuring Arnor Dan [Bonus Track]
Ólafur Arnalds Biography
Ólafur Arnalds (born 3 November 1986) is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. Ólafur Arnalds mixes strings and piano with loops and edgy beats crossing-over from ambient/electronic to pop. Ólafur was a drummer of hardcore/metal bands Fighting Shit and Celestine, as well as others.
In 2004, Ólafur composed and recorded the intro and two outros for tracks on the album Antigone by German metal band Heaven Shall Burn. On his Facebook page he described how he got to know them as followed: “I was playing drums in a hardcore band and we were supporting the german metal band Heaven Shall Burn on their Icelandic tour. Being a huge fan, I gave them a demo with some very overly dramatic prog-rock songs I had been making at home – it was not so classic like this but had some badly computerized strings and piano in it. A few months later they contacted me asked if I would write some intros and outros for their new album, but only with the piano/strings elements – So I wrote my first classical pieces (incl the one i posted above). Their album was a big success in Europe and a few months later I got a phone call from a label asking ‘would you be interested in making a full album with compositions like this?’ I hadn’t really considered continuing writing music like this, but said yes.”
On 12 October 2007, Ólafur’s first solo album Eulogy for Evolution was released. It was followed by the EP Variations of Static in 2008. In the same year, Ólafur toured with Sigur Rós. He is also reported to have sold out The Barbican Hall in London.
In April 2009, Ólafur composed and released a track daily for seven days, instantly making each track available within 24 hours from foundsongs.erasedtapes.com. The collection of tracks was entitled Found Songs. The first track was released on 13 April.
In October 2009, the ballet Dyad 1909 premiered with a score composed by Ólafur. Choreographed by Wayne McGregor and performed by Wayne McGregor Random Dance, the ballet was inspired by Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition to the South Pole in 1909.
In April 2010, Ólafur released a new album entitled …And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness. During 2010 Ólafur also went on a well-received Asia Tour organised by China-based promoter Split Works.
On October 3rd 2011, Ólafur started another seven-day composition project similar to Found Songs, this one entitled Living Room Songs. The tracks were made available at livingroomsongs.olafurarnalds.com/ each day throughout the week. The project was released as an album on December 23rd, 2011.
In November 2012 Ólafur Arnalds announced a new partnership with the Universal Music label Mercury Classics. The first album to be released on the label is titled “For now I am Winter” and announced for international release in February 2013.
Ólafur Arnalds has been involved with various other projects and has his music appear in many films, television shows and advertisements. His song Brotsjór was featured on So You Think You Can Dance Season 8. He also spoke at length on the subject of fan-submitted art in the 2011 documentary film, Press Pause Play. His song Til Enda was used in a trailer for a 2012 film Looper, starring Bruce Willis.
Ólafur’s cousin Ólöf Arnalds is also a well known singer/songwriter.
About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is the world’s leading music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, the industry’s leading global music publishing operation.
Universal Music Group’s record labels include A&M/Octone, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Polydor Records, Show Dog – Universal Music, Universal Motown Republic Group, Universal Music Latino and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world’s most popular artists and their recordings. UMG’s catalog is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, its new media and technologies division; Bravado, its merchandising company; and Twenty-First Artists, its full service management division.
Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and communications company.
About Mercury Classics
Mercury Classics, part of Universal Music Group, is an artist and repertoire centre which aims to identify and work with creative talents who can bring a distinctive and fresh perspective to classical music, whether they are young artists approaching it in a new way, or established musicians, outside the field, curious about exploring the genre.
The label builds on Universal Music’s existing Mercury brand. Famous since the 1940s for vibrant and progressive music-making in pop, jazz, folk and classical, and later for its classical label Mercury Living Presence, Mercury remains an icon of recording history. In the spirit of this, Mercury Classics is highly focussed, hand-picking projects of artistic integrity which step towards redefining classical music for the 21st century.
