Kiasmos, the duo of Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds and Faroese musician Janus Rasmussen, will release their second album on Erased Tapes.
II is the “triumphant followup” to their self-titled debut in 2014, which re-envisioned minimal techno with orchestral flourishes and weightless production.
Across 11 tracks you can “clearly hear how Kiasmos have evolved as sonic architects,” we’re told, in the deeper acoustic textures, atmospheric ambience, restless grooves, and ambitious string arrangements.
“It’s bigger, both in sound and production,” says Rasmussen. “The music has matured yet there’s a playfulness to it.”
They worked on a lot of II during the lost year of 2020 and 2021.
In Bali, they sampled traditional Balinese percussion like the gamelan and incorporated Rasmussen’s field recordings of their natural surroundings.
The album follows Flown, an EP that the pair released in March featuring three of the album’s tracks.
Along with the album announcement, they have shared a new single, entitled “Burst.”
Tracklisting
01. Grown
02. Burst
03. Sailed
04. Laced
05. Bound
06. Sworn
07. Spun
08. Flown
09. Told
10. Dazed
11. Squared
II LP is scheduled for July 5 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Burst,” “Flown,” “Told,” and “Dazed” in full via the player below, and pre-order here.
