Records of the Week

ÓLAFUR ARNALDS ON MYSPACE
OFFICIAL SITE OF ÓLAFUR ARNALDS

It’s official, Icelander Ólafur Arnalds has perfected his brand of emotive neoclassical.  . . . and they have escaped the weight of darkness begins with a funereal slowness–hoarse strings and a frozen piano part slowly unfold and weigh on your limbs, as if you are about to embark on a long march through downpour rain and you’ve forgotten the umbrella.  This pattern is true of much of Arnalds’ latest offering; but, fortunately, the trick never gets tired.  A grinning sense of wonderment accompanies every slow build–it is the musical equivalent of watching the heavens slowly light up with stars, over and over.  “Gleypa Okkur” and “Hægt, Kemur Ljósið” feature percussion reminiscent of God is an Astronaut or Beware of Safety, and a magical brass section lends an air of triumph to the album’s finale.  Arnalds’ greatest accomplishment with . . . and they have escaped the weight of darkness is molding the myriad sounds of Iceland–at times pastoral, icy, and modern–into a dynamic selection of contemporary classical compositions.