Acclaimed Icelandic composer and multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds will return to Australia in 2027 with Falling Apart Together, an ambitious live experience that reimagines the concert format.
Following dates across Europe and America, the Australian tour will include Perth (25 – 26 February), Adelaide (28 February), Brisbane (2 March), Sydney (5 & 6 March) and Melbourne (7 & 8 March).
Known for mixing strings and piano with loops and beats, Arnalds’ sound ranges from ambient/electronic to atmospheric pop. Alongside his team of devoated craftsmen and musicians, Falling Apart Together presents a spellbinding blend of the award-winning artist’s past and new material.
Arnalds said the tour is his most daring and adventurous project to date. “I haven’t toured Australia solo since 2018, and I’ve really missed it. Falling Apart Together is a very personal show, built around connection and the feeling of creating something that feels genuinely shared for an evening. I’m so happy to finally bring it to Australia, It feels like the right place for this show,” said Arnalds.
Having begun his music career as the drummer for a series of Icelandic metal bands, Arnalds earned a reputation in the late 2000s for blending luminous neo-classic works with subtle elements of post-rock, pop, and electronic music.
His entry into the neo-classical field was somewhat accidental, Arnalds recorded his 2007 life-cycle concept album Eulogy for Evolution after label Erased Tapes heard his work on Heaven Shall Burn’s 2004 album Antigone and contacted him about recording a full album of material in that vein.
In addition to forming the experimental techno duo Kiasmos with Faroese-Icelandic minimalist Janus Rasmussen, Arnalds branched out into film and television soundtracks, earning acclaim for his scores to the films Another Happy Day and Gimme Shelter, as well as the BBC series Broadchurch.
He also continued to explore the classical world on collaborative projects like 2014’s The Chopin Project with cellist Alice Sara Ott, and an ongoing set of releases with German composer Nils Frahm.
Arnalds’ 2020 album Some Kind of Peace was his most personal album to date, inspired by the mantra that we cannot control what happens to us. True to his collaborative spirit, the album flourished through partnerships with artists like Bonobo, Josin and fellow Icelander JFDR.
NPR’s Bob Boilen named Some Kind of Peace Album of the Year and the album received 3 Grammy nominations. That same year Arnalds received an Emmy nomination for his score to the Apple TV+ mini-series Defending Jacob and also took home the Icelandic Music Award for Best Film and TV Score.
Arnalds last toured Australia in 2018, his previous world tours have sold out such iconic halls as Royal Albert Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Sydney Opera House, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. This tour will mark his first performances at Melbourne’s, Hamer Hall.
Ólafur Arnalds’ 2027 Australian tour will begin with Perth Festival (25 – 26 February) followed by Adelaide Festival (28 February), Concert Hall – QPAC, Brisbane (2 March), Sydney Opera House (5 & 6 March) and Hamer Hall – Arts Centre Melbourne (7 & 8 March).
Image: Ólafur Arnalds – photo by Anna Maggy