Terrorbird

Only 21 years of age, �lafur Arnalds hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside Reykjavík. He has immersed himself completely in the world of delicate symphonic compositions in a near weightless orchestral undertaking. Mixing strings and piano with loops, ambiance, electronics and beats, his music fits into London-based cinematic music label Erased Tapes' catalogue like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. While keeping the classical foundations of his debut album 'Eulogy for Evolution' (out July 22), on 'Variations of Static' Arnalds incorporates crackling electronics and the dead voice of a machine; like vague memories of tradition lost within the digital age we all live in. It comes with a free download voucher for the 11-track 'Erased Tapes Collection I' compilation to celebrate the label's 1st anniversary.

Last winter �lafur and his live string quartet performed at unique venues in the UK including the oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe, the Holywell Music Room in Oxford, before they continued playing mostly sold out shows throughout the rest of Europe. Over five hundred people came to see �lafur at the State-X Newforms Festival in Den Haag alongside Aphex Twin and at Iceland Airwaves with Amiina & Jóhann Jóhannsson in Brussels. In March he crossed the Atlantic for a few first showcases in Boston, Toronto and New York. And he will return for an extensive tour in July in order to promote the release in North America. Fellow Icelanders Sigur Rós asked �lafur to open some of their European shows in mid August, before he will embark on a first Asian tour and return to Iceland to record his second full length.