Kiasmos are the duo Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen, and together they create some of the most subtly beautiful electronic music your ears will ever hear. Their first release was as part of a split 12″ with Rival Consoles way back in 2009 and they were fairly busy in the mid-2010s, putting out their debut self-titled LP and a handful of EPs and 12″ records. But things had been pretty quiet for them, as Kiasmos at least, since 2017.
That’s not to say they haven’t been busy. Ólafur, of course, has been very successful with his neoclassical releases and soundtracks, earning a BAFTA in 2014, an Emmy in 2020, and a pair of Grammys in 2022, which isn’t bad for a guy who used to play drums in a hardcore band called Fighting Shit. Janus has also been exploring various projects and put out a solo album in 2019 called Vín. I’ve actually been a fan of Janus’ for some time, having been a bit obsessed with his band Bloodgroup and their trio of excellent albums, which I highly recommend checking out.
When it comes to Kiasmos it’s easy, maybe a bit too easy, to tie their musical stylings to the environments the performers come from. Ólafur is from Iceland, while Janus is from the Faroe Islands and has spent considerable time in Iceland. Both countries are known for their rocky landscapes, stunning natural vistas, and, well, lack of people. You don’t have to drive for more than a few minutes to feel like you’ve suddenly found yourself in some kind of strange, almost abandoned land that time somehow forgot, a pocket universe all its own. And having spent some time behind the wheel in Iceland, I can confirm that Kiasmos is indeed the perfect soundtrack as you drive through breathtaking beauty broken only by the occasional farm or a single car going the other direction. You can pull over on the side of the road just about anywhere and find yourself in awe (and, quite often, getting blasted by some gusting winds). But that horse has been, quite frankly, beaten to death. And not just in the popular press. Even academics have written on the topic, perhaps most recently in Tore Størvold’s Dissonant Landscapes: Music, Nature, and the Performance of Iceland (2023).
II opens with “Grown”, and it’s clear that Kiasmos still embrace their signature sound, a blend of ambient electronics, velvety beats, strings, and piano, a cozy blanket of sound to wrap around yourself as you settle in for the next hour of listening. There’s a certain something in their music that I lack the language to effectively describe… even when the tempo picks up and builds, as it does part way into the next track, “Burst”, the whole is still clearly Kiasmos. Slide some sneaky funky beats into “Laced”? The current that is Kiasmos still moves gently through the song. Lest you think I’m implying these 11 tracks sound the same, let me reassure you they do not. Arnalds and Rasmussen infuse their songs with subtlety and flair.
My favorite time to enjoy Kiasmos is early in the morning, when the rush of the day has yet to begin, that magic time when a cup of coffee and the lingering last few minutes of quiet allow you to feel fully present and centered, before your inbox and calendar start to claw their way into your awareness. Summer or winter, rain or shine, those things don’t matter; it’s that stillness giving way to the waking of the world. That period of time is what Kiasmos sounds like.
There are at least four vinyl versions of II – black, clear, orange, and green. The orange and clear appear to already be sold out, at least from the label and group, and retail prices are already starting to head north, so you might want to grab a copy soon. Note too that some come with a print signed by the pair. You can give it a listen, as well as order a copy on black vinyl, from the Kiasmos Bandcamp page HERE.