Artist
Ólafur Arnalds
181,275 followers
Born 1986 in the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsbær, a few kilometers outside of Reykjavík, Ólafur Arnalds has always enjoyed pushing boundaries with his compositions, both in his studio work and his live-shows. Since the release of his debut album "Eulogy for Evolution" in 2007 he has built up a dedicated international following and is well established for his genre-crossing compositions blending classical, pop and ambient/electronica influences into a unique musical language. Starting out as drummer for several hardcore/metal bands, Ólafur was asked to write instrumental intros and outros for the album "Antigone" of German metal band Heaven Shall Burn. This led to more work in the field of neo-classical strings and piano based music, and ultimately to the release of Eulogy for Evolution and the beginning of Ólafur's partnership with Berlin based label Erased Tapes. In 2008 he embarked on a tour with fellow Icelanders Sigur Rós. In 2009 he started a week-long project of composing one track by day, making it immediately available online to his fans. The collection was later officially released under the title Found Songs. He repeated the same experiment in 2011 under the title Living Room Songs. Also in 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. That year he also started Kiasmos, together with Janus Rasmussen. Kiasmos is a minimal techno based project. Their self titled debut album was released in 2014, preceded by the Thrown EP. In April 2010 Ólafur released his second full-length album entitled ...And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness, which was backed up with an extensive tour, including his first trip to China. His third album, and the first to be released under his new partnership with Universal Music's Mercury Classics imprint, is titled For Now I Am Winter and released in February 2013. Expanding on his previous work the new album features a full orchestra and – for the first time – introduces vocals to his soundworld. Icelandic singer Arnór Dan is to be heard on four tracks of the album. More recently Ólafur has been venturing into the world of films, writing his first Hollywood film score to Another Happy Day. He also had music in the hit film The Hunger Games and has been featured several times on popular American television show So You Think You Can Dance. For 2013 his scores include the music to the 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. In 2014 Arnalds won the prestigious BAFTA Television Craft Award for his score to the BBC's hit detective series 'Broadchurch'. He is cousin's with singer Ólöf Arnalds. . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Popular
Fyrsta
Living Room Songs
Tomorrow's Song
Living Room Songs
Film Credits
Living Room Songs
Near Light
Living Room Songs
Ágúst
Living Room Songs
Lag Fyrir Ömmu
Living Room Songs
This Place Is a Shelter
Living Room Songs
Four
Loon
saman
re:member
The Bottom Line
some kind of peace
Echoes
Echoes
Happiness Does Not Wait (2021 Version)
Happiness Does Not Wait (2021 Version)
20:17
Trance Frendz
Oceans
Oceans
TREE
TREE
Woven Song
some kind of peace
for Steph
A Dawning
Albums
Echoes
2026
SAGES (Echoes Edition)
2026
Sunrise Session III
2026
like gravity
2026
A Dawning
2025
In The Sound Of Breathing
2025
In The Sound Of Breathing (George FitzGerald Remix)
2025
Opening
2025
Opening (Sofia Kourtesis Remix)
2025
SAGES
2025
Forever Held
2024
improvisation
2024
the world is finally quiet
2024
For Now I Am Winter (10th Anniversary Edition)
2023
Hafursey (Yfir)
2023
It’s 2am and i’m not tired
2023
Vast (ANNA Remix)
2023
and we’ll leave it there…
2023
trying to think of nothing
2023
Still / Sound — piano reworks
2022
Sunrise Session II
2022
Surface (Music from the Original TV Series)
2022
We Contain Multitudes — piano reworks
2022
some kind of peace — piano reworks
2022
A Sunrise Session
2021
The Invisible EP
2021
When We Are Born
2021
some kind of peace
2020
re:member (choir versions)
2019
re:member – string quartets
2019
re:visions (live)
2019
re:member
2018
Broadchurch - The Final Chapter (Music From The Original TV Series)
2017
Eulogy for Evolution 2017 (Remastered 10th Anniversary Edition)
2017
Island Songs
2016
Late Night Tales: Ólafur Arnalds
2016
Trance Frendz
2016
Broadchurch (Music From The Original TV Series)
2015
Loon
2015
The Chopin Project
2015
Gimme Shelter (Original Soundtrack Album)
2014
For Now I Am Winter
2013
Another Happy Day (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2012
Living Room Songs
2012
Stare
2012
Living Room Songs
2011
…And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness
2010
Dyad 1909
2009
Found Songs
2009
Variations of Static
2008
Eulogy for Evolution
2007
Similar Artists
Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm
Nils Frahm
Dustin O'Halloran
Luke Howard
Kiasmos
Max Richter
Hania Rani
Federico Albanese
Slow Meadow
Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott
Eydís Evensen
Ludovico Einaudi