Henrik Lindstrand

This past weekend I was digging through the many archived recordings I have on my external hard drives. I’ve come across a series of captured sounds which I released on Headphone Commute exactly a decade ago under the series I titled Sound Postcards. I found that I’ve completely forgotten about these little gems shared by many of my favourite artists, including Nils Frahm, Dustin O’Halloran, Taylor Deupree, Hauschka, Richard Chartier, et al… and those who are no longer with us today, like Marcus Fjellström. If you’re curious about this project, check out all of the archived clips on this Soundcloud Playlist. Among the many shared moments, I found a recording of a Meditation Bell being struck to call us back for another sitting, which I captured during my very first silent retreat 10 years ago. I remember the teacher telling us to focus on the sound, slowly receding into silence and staying with it until it could no longer be heard. This was a fascinating experience, and I wondered whether or not the sound continues to resonate forever, even if the pressure displacement of air, on a molecular and quantum level, is no longer observable. This turns out to be true. The laws of our universe dictate that energy and information can not be created or destroyed. This not only means that music is a direct causality of all previous moments but that it truly lives on forever, even when it can no longer be heard…

What does this all have to do with a beautiful new record by Copenhagen-based composer and pianist Henrik Lindstrand? I think it’s all there in his music: the important connections with nature and space, the influences of past and present musicians, watercolour painters, Italian film scores of the ’50s, Swedish jazz and Scandinavian folk, the performance of a 16-piece string orchestra conducted by LSO’s Robert Ames, and the recording touch of Francesco Donadello, who have contributed with their own past experience [and musical journey with others] to the totality that makes up his new album. And I hear it all…

Dedicated to a very close friend of mine that went through a dark period in his life. I think the melody contains hope and light, and the rhythm in the chords is inspired by a traditional Swedish folk dance but slower than often used. There is a tension between melancholy and joy, and the piece modulates a couple of times and ends up in a new place.

— Henrik Lindstrand

Named after his Copenhagen studio (“klang” means “sound”), the album Klangland is officially out on March 10th, 2023, via One Little Independent Records, available as a digital download or on a 12″ black vinyl. And although I have only premiered a single track for you today, I urge you to listen to this record as a whole, from start to finish. And we will resonate together then…