Kiasmos

"Meticulous, majestic, simply beautiful electronic music... This album is soothing but never dull, wholesome yet gently electrifying too." - **** The Guardian
"Arnalds and Rasmussen achieve the contradictory feat of crafting a pedal-to-the-floor techno album that leaves room for melancholy and wonder but which always fulfils the promise, implicit in the dance genre, of cranking up to an ecstatic pay-off.” - **** iNews
"11 tracks, all with one-word titles, that breathe in and out like classic Zen meditation techniques... Skilled technicians at work and play." - **** The Irish Times

Today Kiasmos, the duo of Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds and Faroese musician Janus Rasmussen, release their long-awaited second album ‘II’ via Erased Tapes. The release comes as the duo continue to bring their captivating live show to festivals and headline dates across the UK and North America throughout 2024.

Speaking on the release, the band offer: "Patience, understanding and a collective love of getting caught in the moment is the basis of our collaboration. This record took years to write, it all had to feel right and we had to feel ready. Rediscovering those values that we hold dear along the way. And releasing it now, in the height of summer, feels so very right. So, we hope you enjoy it. Play it as loud as you can. And see you out there soon!

When Kiasmos started out in the late 2000s, little did they know that their part-time supergroup would go stratospheric. It was the sound of two old friends from neighbouring islands striking out against the stark piano and electropop music that they were individually celebrated for and effusively sharing their love of Berlin-inspired beats. But their pairing blew up into a world-dominating live act whose music went on to define the decade. So what does one of the most dynamic duos in electronic music do next, after all this time? There are clues in their new artwork: Kiasmos’s distinctive diamond motif, up in flames, so it can rise again from the ashes.
 
Kiasmos return, renewed and restored, with ‘II’. It’s the triumphant followup to their universally acclaimed self-titled debut in 2014, which re-envisioned minimal techno with orchestral flourishes and weightless production. They’d made most of that album in just two weeks; this time it’s been 10 years. The making of ‘II’ was a test of their friendship, but also testament to how great musical chemistry can always go the distance and be just the same as it ever was. “In the beginning, we hadn’t established any sound, so it was easy to write,” says Janus. 
 
On ‘II’ you can clearly hear how Kiasmos have evolved as sonic architects, in the album’s deeper acoustic textures, atmospheric ambience, restless grooves and ambitious string arrangements. Each song on the album is a mini epic, effortlessly moving between electronic, classical and rave, and then pulling back before you’ve had a chance to take a breath. This is Kiasmos – but more widescreen. “It’s bigger, both in sound and production,” says Janus. “The music has matured yet there’s a playfulness to it.”
 
“The record sounds fuller,” agrees Ólafur. “The sound design gives you a sense of place and space.”
 
They worked on a lot of ‘II’ during the lost year of 2020-2021, including a trip to Ólafur’s studio in Bali. “We spent a month there and wrote a few songs that ended up on the record,” says Janus. The pair sampled traditional Balinese percussion like the gamelan and incorporated Janus’s field recordings of their natural surroundings – the sound of birds, crickets and echoing the sunrise over the lush landscape. 
 
Kiasmos have an enviable knack for conveying complex emotions and evocative visuals with instrumental music. But this time they’ve got more experience as producers to draw on. The album’s expansiveness can be linked to Ólafur’s intervening years as a Grammy-nominated composer and prominent soundtracker in film and TV. And they’ve subtly shifted from four-to-the-floor to the frenetic broken beats of UK dance music, experimenting more with BPMs, echoing Janus’s time spent DJing in major venues worldwide. 
 
“It’s emotional rave!” laughs Ólafur. The magic of Kiasmos is also in the cathartic release that can happen at their live shows. “We often talk about the idea of crying on the dance floor,” Ólafur continues. “That’s become our unofficial slogan.” But they also want to keep everyone, including themselves, on their toes. “II is livelier,” says Janus, “but it still retains the signature Kiasmos style of transitioning from a whisper-quiet ambience to an explosive dance beat that can blow your socks off.” Their phoenix is rising from the ashes, and ready to take flight.