Ólafur Arnalds - some kind of peace ALBUM REVIEW

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Ólafur Arnalds has been one of my favorite composers lately. I’ve been doing a little dive into his music, and I’ve been having a good time. He’s also composed scores for the shows Broadchurch and Defending Jacob, and I enjoyed these as well. With 2020 in the home stretch and everyone being stressed out, I’ve also been diving into ambient music, which Arnalds is also known for. While I was listening to this, I saw that he recently put out a new album, titled some kind of peace. After I listened to it, I decided to write about how I felt about it, which is what happens here, after all. Let’s just get right into some kind of peace.

some kind of peace is an ambient album with electronic and even some classical vibes. A good interpretation of this album is to bring peace to a world where there’s no peace at all, and I think that’s a beautiful way of describing it to me. The opening track “Loom” has additional production from Bonobo, and it’s probably the most electronic-sounding song here, yet it’s still pretty nice. Both “Woven Song” and “Spiral” have these amazing string sections that seem like they’re out of a film score, which he does have experience with, so I’m not that surprised. Admittedly, the two songs with guest vocalists aren’t all that to me. JFDR’s emotionally charged performance is great on “Back to the Sky” and Josin on “The Bottom Line” fits the peaceful vibe of the project, but they just weren’t my favorite songs on the album. The rest of the songs aren’t too special, though, but they’re fitting the vibe perfectly. The one complaint I have on some kind of peace is that I wanted a little bit more variety. I definitely love the atmospheric, ambient album type, but if there was a tiny bit more creativity, there could be a lot more replayability here.

Overall, some kind of peace is the best ambient album of the year. While none of the songs are catchy or ear-grabbing, this set of tracks were dropped at the exact right time. Right after a very stressful election (whether you’re on both sides), we needed something to drown all of that out, something peaceful to just let all of our feelings go, and Ólafur Arnalds has nailed that near-perfectly. If you’re ever stressed out about anything in the world, just go and listen to this album.


8/10



Music isn’t everything, though. Everyone’s dealt with stress, and I can admit that I haven’t been the best mentally these days. While running this website has been a good way to keep my mind off things, you still have to find a way to get help if you need it. For many, it’s tough to keep some of the demons out of their life. I just wanted to say that whatever problems you’re going through right now, it’s all going to get better. 🤍



Stream some kind of peace here

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