A Dawning Ólafur Arnalds & Talos

• 1 Shared Time 01:09
• 2 Signs 03:27
• 3 Bedrock 04:39
• 4 west cork, 12 feb 03:06
• 5 Borrowed Time 03:21
• 6 A Dawning 03:58
• 7 for Steph 03:54
• 8 We Didn’t Know We Were Ready 06:27
• Total Runtime 30:01

Info for A Dawning

A Dawning, the deeply moving collaborative album from Icelandic composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds and the late Irish singer-songwriter Talos (Eoin French), arrives 11 July 2025. Blending the two artists’ unique musical voices, it moves between moments of raw emotion and luminous hope, inviting listeners on a powerful sonic journey. With its eight evocative tracks, A Dawning stands as both a celebration of artistic partnership and a heartfelt tribute to Talos’s enduring legacy. All artwork was created by Talos himself, offering a personal window into his creative vision. This is music to keep us afloat in dark waters, guiding us towards a glimmer of light on the horizon.

The idea for making a record together began when Arnalds and Talos were invited to participate in a residency at the Sounds from a Safe Harbour Festival in Cork in 2023. The duo formed a close relationship and began working first in Arnalds' Reykjavík studio and then in Talos' West Cork home.

After Talos passed away from a short illness in August 2024, Arnalds completed the record.

"We made this album together," Arnalds says. "Even after, while I was there working on some arrangements, I never felt like I was truly alone. Near the end, where we were saying how grateful we were to have met each other, he told me, 'You know, I’m still gonna be there.'"

Eoin French aka Talos, vocals, guitar
Ólafur Arnalds, piano
Sandrayati, vocals
Alexi Murdoch, vocals
Niamh Regan, vocals
Ye Vagabonds, vocals

Mixed by Styrmir Hauksson & Ross Dowling
Mastered by Zino Mikorey

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Ólafur Arnalds
Born in 1986, Ólafur hails from the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside of Reykjavík. He has immersed himself completely in a world of delicate symphonic compositions generating near weightless orchestral pieces. Arnalds explores the crossover from classical to pop by mixing chamber strings and piano with discreet electronics which makes him a perfect fit for cinematic music label Erased Tapes. His motivations are clear: 'The classical scene is kind of closed to people who haven't been studying music all their lives. I would like to bring my classical influence to the people who don't usually listen to this kind of music…open people's minds.'

Through relentless touring and determination this young artist has steadily gained recognition worldwide since his 2007 debut 'Eulogy for Evolution'. His 2008 follow-up EP ‘Variations of Static’ earned Ólafur acclaim from both the contemporary and classical field – transcending a traditional divide. He has sold out some of the world’s most renowned music venues including Barbican Hall in London and has been awarded ‘Best Live Session of 2008’ by BBC Radio 1 presenter Gilles Peterson.

Over the past eighteen months Arnalds has advanced from a former support-act for Sigur Rós to an internationally respected artists in his own right. In April 2009 Arnalds created the 7 song series 'Found Songs' – recording a song a day for 7 days and instantly making each track available via Twitter and the official Erased Tapes website with over 300.000 people downloading for free.

December 2009 saw the release of Ólafur’s contemporary dance score 'Dyad 1909', commissioned by the award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor. The dance piece, inspired by Shackleton’s South Pole premiered at the Sadler’s Wells theatre in October 2009 and became a much talked about 5-nights of live music, dance and visuals. BBC Four, the ITV1 South Bank Show and Arte TV Europe broadcasted 'Dyad 1909' on primetime television. In March 2010 he embarked on his first ever China Tour, which included sold-out shows in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing, and a live webcast watched by thousands of fans all round the world.

Ólafur Arnalds' second full-length album '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness', continues his mission to lure an indie-generation of pop and rock fans into an emotive world of beguiling electronic chamber music and delicate classical arrangements. The sense of an organic crossover recording is reinforced by the involvement of co-producer Barði Jóhannsson of eccentric pop/rock/electronica-formation Bang Gang. Those expecting a mere continuation of the minimal melancholia of his previous albums are in for a surprise, as the record may be the most uplifting and richly orchestrated work of his career.

'Precocious Nordic composer’s sumptuous second LP … Timeless and sublime' **** – UNCUT

'An artist of immense maturity' (9/10) – Drowned In Sound

This album contains no booklet.