Late on Earth Joel Lyssarides

• Joel Lyssarides (b. 1992): Bortom Bergen:
• 1 Lyssarides: Bortom Bergen 05:31
• Mahabalipuram:
• 2 Lyssarides: Mahabalipuram 04:43
• Life in Between:
• 3 Lyssarides: Life in Between 04:52
• In Itinere:
• 4 Lyssarides: In Itinere 01:55
• Sotira:
• 5 Lyssarides: Sotira 05:00
• Never Alone:
• 6 Lyssarides: Never Alone 05:58
• Raqs Sharqi:
• 7 Lyssarides: Raqs Sharqi 04:59
• Folie À Deux:
• 8 Lyssarides: Folie À Deux 03:51
• Intermission:
• 9 Lyssarides: Intermission 00:52
• Anemoia:
• 10 Lyssarides: Anemoia 03:51
• Follow the Night:
• 11 Lyssarides: Follow the Night 03:25
• Late on Earth:
• 12 Lyssarides: Late on Earth 04:12
• Total Runtime 49:09

Info for Late on Earth

For Swedish pianist Joel Lyssarides, substance and depth always take precedence over flashy concepts, emotion and expression over mere virtuosity. Making music, he says, is like searching for grains of sand in the desert — a continuous journey of many small steps. His music thrives on detail: the finest nuances, subtle shifts in harmony, groove and dynamics. And on a distinctive piano sound — crystal clear, yet never sharp. The fact that Lyssarides’ music has now surpassed 100 million streams shows that this quiet intensity resonates with audiences around the world.

Lyssarides belongs to a generation of European jazz musicians who left stylistic boundaries behind long ago. He is a sought-after collaborator – currently as a pianist alongside Nils Landgren, as part of the e.s.t. tribute project with Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström, and also as a composer for pop productions and video game music. Yet the piano trio remains at the heart of his work. It is the formation in which his musical universe unfolds most directly.

Joel Lyssarides’ new album Late on Earth has been developed in an unusually long and intensive process. Over more than four years, the music has developed in close exchange with producer Andreas Brandis – a creative dialogue that encouraged Lyssarides to explore new paths. “It was almost therapeutic. On the one hand Andreas knows what makes me tick, and what I can do musically, but I also shared many of my doubts with him. In the end we decided everything together: the choice of the line-up, the studio – in this case the legendary Bauer Studios – the songs, the final takes. That helped me enormously, and I think I’ve never captured who I am and what I feel as honestly as this on a recording.” And there’s also a thought that makes him smile: “For the first time, I even have pieces on an album in a major key!”

One important reason for the music’s emotional depth was Brandis encouraging Lyssarides to take more risks and to let go of the idea of perfection. “Especially at a time when music is increasingly digitally polished or even entirely generated by AI, Andreas was interested in the total opposite: the human element. In the end it’s often the small imperfections that make music come alive – music arises from immediate experience capturing the search for who you are, for your sound, your expression.”

Joel Lyssarides’ music arises from immediate experience, rather than from any attempt to follow a conceptual agenda. “I sit down at the piano, feel something — and play, often for hours.” Many of the pieces on Late on Earth grew out of such moments: from sleeplessness, from love, from fleeting thoughts or small observations. For Lyssarides, it is a great joy when these small moments find their way out into the world and begin a life of their own. Sometimes this can feel almost surreal, as he describes: “Recently a pianist sent me his version of one of my pieces and wrote how much it meant to him. And I thought: wait a second – I wrote that tune at four in the morning...in my underwear.”

Late on Earth is a collection of sincere musical snapshots — full of beauty, sometimes with rough edges, always carried by a profound emotional clarity.

Joel Lyssarides, piano
Niklas Fernqvist, bass
Rasmus Blixt, drums

Recorded 07–08 July 2025 at Bauer Studios, Ludwigsburg
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Adrian von Ripka
Composed by Joel Lyssarides
Produced by Andreas Brandis

Joel Lyssarides
was born in Stockholm, Sweden 1992. His early exposure to music at home led to piano studies at the age of four. His interest in jazz came naturally, as he started to discover and explore his parents’ record collection with music by Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk and others. ​

At the age of sixteen Joel was accepted to the Södra Latin College of Music in Stockholm, which at the time was the first and natural choice for young, Swedish musicians aspiring to pursue a professional career in music. His interest in jazz and harmony grew under the inspired teaching of Robert Malmberg, who opened new approaches to harmonic thinking inspired by Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans. ​

At the age of eighteen Joel was accepted to the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, where Professor Ove Lundin was his teacher and mentor for three years. Ove took over where Robert Malmberg had stopped and continued to encourage Joel’s interest in harmony. This also included the discovery of classical composers such as Brahms, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and Ravel.

During his last year at the Academy Joel spent a period in Rome at the Conservatorie Di Santa Cecilia. Here he studied the art of orchestration with a focus on string writing for orchestra under the guidance of the renowned Italian composer Antonio Di Pofi.

While still in Italy, it came to Joel’s attention that the Swedish bank, Handelsbanken, had issued a competion for all Swedish jazz piano students. The first prize was a brand new Steinway Grand Piano and access to a studio. Joel’s application included various performances of his own compositions as well as jazz standards. On March 26 2014, Joel received his prize instrument from Princess Christina Mrs Magnusons hand at a ceremony at Musikaliska in Stockholm,

In its citation the jury says: "A young musician whose playing is characterized by exquisite timbre feeling, subtle harmonies and vivid phrasing, for the benefit of innovation at the highest artistic level. With an imaginative musician-ship and an expression of an extraordinary kind, our prize winner creates a story filled with beautiful colours, beauty and a rare light."

Since graduation at the age of 21 Joel has been a sought-after pianist, session musician and arranger. He has played with a wide array of artists such as Anne Sofie Von Otter, Nils Landgren, Sven Bertil Taube, Silvana Imam, Dirty Loops, Norrbotten Big Band, Kristin Amparo and Svante Henrysson, as well as worked as an arranger for Benny Andersson (ABBA), various big bands, choirs and string quartets. ​

In November, 2017 Joel went into the studio to record his debut album along with his newly started trio consisting of Niklas Fernqvist on bass and Rasmus Blixt on drums. The music is a reflection of Joel’s background in classical music, jazz and Swedish folk Music.

Booklet for Late on Earth