Ólafur Arnalds has announced his new album, some kind of peace, will drop on November 6th via Mercury KX. Ahead of it’s release the Icelandic artist has shared the album track and lead single, “We Contain Multitudes.”

From Ólafur Arnalds:

some kind of peace was born out of the following mantra: “we can’t control anything that happens to us. All we can do is control how we react to what life gives us.” The album is about what it means to be alive, daring to be vulnerable and the importance of rituals. It is a personal journey told through Ólafur’s introspective music, against the backdrop of a chaotic world. All the collaborators on the album were key to Ólafur’s life during the making of the album, including British musician Bonobo, featured on the album’s luminous pulsing opener, Icelandic singer and multi-instrumentalist JFDR who Ólafur has admired for years, and his friend Josin, a German singer-songwriter.

some kind of peace was recorded at his studio at the harbour in downtown Reykjavik. Luckily for Ólafur, the newly designed studio was completed just before lockdown began; he won’t write a fully formed song anywhere else. “I can see the mountains through my window,” he says. “I really believe in how the nature of a space enhances creativity and I hold it quite sacred.” The resulting some kind of peace is Ólafur’s most personal record to date, one that’s open and honest. “It’s so personal that I’m still trying to find the words to talk about it,” he says with a smile. “I felt it was important that the album would tell my story in a very honest way. This album is much closer to my heart than any of the others.”

Ahead of today’s announcement, Ólafur teased “We Contain Multitudes” by presenting his fans with the track’s sheet music, giving them license to freely interpret and record their own cover of the new single, posting it to social media using the hashtag #wecontainpianos, all before hearing Ólafur’s own recording.

Ólafur Arnalds
some kind of peace
Tracklist

1. Loom (Feat. Bonobo)
2. Woven Song
3. Spiral
4. Still / Sound
5. Back To The Sky (Feat. JFDR)
7. Zero
7. New Grass
8. The Bottom Line (Feat. Josin)
9. We Contain Multitudes
10. Undone

Order Some Kind Of Peace Here