Some Kind of Peace

With 2018s re:member, composer Olafur Arnalds pushed technological boundaries, using custom software and an algorithm as a major part of its design to trigger two player pianos with his own live keyboard work. The albums blue-shaded cover art suggested the paper punch-hole patterns of such programming. Two years later, some kind of peace features a similarly blue-tinted cover, this time a close-up of Arnalds face. A more-personal album inspired by a friends comment that we cant control what life brings, only our own reactions to it, its songs share themes of human vulnerability. Theres still an electronic presence on the album, which also relies heavily on piano as well as strings. The twinkling first track, Loom, is one of three collaborative entries, this one featuring electronic artist Bonobo. Soft, distorted keyboard and bell-like piano timbres, bass, and high-pitched voice samples paint a wistful, rhythmic harmonic palette on the song, which closes on the delicate interplay between piano and strings. Almost club-friendly but decidedly soft-spoken, its joined by two other songs, The Bottom Line with Josin, and Back to the Sky, which features a brittle, cracking vocal delivery by Icelandic singer JFDR. Shes supported on the track by intimate strings, spare, downtempo beats, and sustained tones that blend in with the strings. Appearing midway through the mostly instrumental track list, it includes the lines Then when stars align/With some kind of peace/I could be loved by you. The instrumentals -- all calm and meditative -- range from Woven Song, a borderline sprightly piano piece with strings and a sample of an icaro (a South American healing song), to solo piano works like the sentimental We Contain Multitudes. Even with the occasional programmed drums, some kind of peace is a consistently tranquil set, with enough shape and variety to the tracks to stave off ambient or easy listening claims. ~ Marcy Donelson