Ólafur Arnalds reveals stunning video for '0952' - premiere

Icelandic composer worked with director Eilífur Örn Þrastarson to create visuals that worked with the cyclical themes in his music

Ólafur Arnalds has unveiled an exquisite video for his track '0952'.

The piece comes from the reissue of the Icelandic composer's acclaimed debut album for its 10th anniversary, titled Eulogy for Evolution 2017, via Erased Tapes records.

It was directed by Eilífur Örn Þrastarson, who says: "The idea came instantly after I heard the song. I met with Oli and pitched him the idea. We kind of had like a 'wow' moment. He told me that more or less I had just described the concept of the album.

"Things felt right so we went ahead and started planning and in the end we ended up shooting the video in Oli's childhood home - where he wrote the very same song."

Arnalds explains: "When I was 18 my uncle passed away from cancer. It was the first time I had experienced the passing of someone close to me, so I dedicated my work to him.

"Around the same time his first grandchild was born, and was named after him. I was inspired by the joy and positivity he brought, and saw that somehow life was extended after our death. So I set out to create a solid piece of music that would take us through the circle of life."

Of the album he adds: “I spent a couple of weeks in some sort of a time machine, opening up and working on 12-year-old recordings. There was noise in the microphones, some channels seemed accidentally muted, but sometimes I found myself admiring what my teenage self was capable of. It was somehow charming. Well, most of it. So I fixed the stuff that wasn’t before sending it off to Nils Frahm for remastering."

Ólafur Arnalds

"It was an ambitious outing. When I was 18 my uncle passed away from cancer. It was the first time I had experienced the passing of someone close to me, so I dedicated my work to him. Around the same time his first grandchild was born, and was named after him.

"I was inspired by the joy and positivity he brought, and saw that somehow life was extended after our death. So I set out to create a solid piece of music that would take us through the circle of life.

This work by a highly emotional teenager has been revived, matured and, I hope you’ll agree, improved by some of my favourite people in this world. I’m grateful to see it get another chance to shine and I hope you will enjoy this journey to the past.”

Eulogy For Evolution 2017, the remastered reissue of Arnalds' debut album, is out now