Release Notes
Label: Miasmah
Release: The Last Sunset Of The Year
Date: September 20, 2024
Mastered By: Lupo
Artwork By: Dan Durso
For all the reasons that you should already know, and if not, then for the ones that will become apparent shortly, these words are extremely difficult for me to write. So, let’s get the challenging part out of the way now. Marcus Fjellström was a remarkable Swedish composer who has been an influence and a dear friend. I’ve met him on several occasions and was immediately embraced by his radiating bright energy, which seemed to be at odds with the dim music he composed. His audiovisual works left a permanent impression on my heart and mind, the most notable of which was his private performance for the Miasmah family in Berlin, on which he released Schattenspieler (2010) and Skelektikon (2017). He even made a gorgeous mix for me, which I listen to only when I miss him the most. So when, in September of 2017, Erik Skodvin brought me the terrible news of his untimely death (at an incredibly young age of only 37!), I was absolutely devastated. It’s been nearly impossible to listen to his music ever since. That, and of course, watching the AMC series called The Terror, for which Marcus composed the soundtrack at the end of his life. That is until today. On September 20th, 2024, Miasmah will release a posthumous double album of this final work, befittingly titled The Last Sunset Of The Year, collecting music originally composed for the above-mentioned show, with many pieces being available for the very first time. I’m absolutely honoured to be selected to premiere a track, with the official announcement coming out tomorrow.
The selected pieces have a unity unto themselves, and we feel strongly that this release should be taken not as a companion to the show, but as Marcus Fjellström’s final album, on its own terms. We’ve presented these pieces without titles, except for titling the four movements of the journey they suggest. It is a journey that evokes the mystery, grandeur, and desolation of the Arctic, and articulates the spiritual and existential implications of traveling there. In many ways, The Last Sunset of the Year goes further, and deeper, than the show ever could, presenting a remarkable sonic line from contented exploration, to staggering decline, to death — and even to a final vista beyond death.
— Dave Kajganich
The official press release details the difficult process of creating this final album, as his friends and colleagues Erik K. Skodvin and Dave Kajganich met hundreds of times in order to sift through the seventy-five pieces that Marcus wrote for the show in order to bring you this beauty. “In a way I can’t fully articulate, it was very much as though Erik and I were having a final, deeply felt and joyous conversation with Marcus himself about the interior lives of these pieces,” Kajganich says. The album will be available as a limited edition 2xCD and a 2xLP (only 300 copies) with an embossed gatefold sleeve, pressed on 180g vinyl.
