The music of Erland Cooper often celebrates the rich Nordic ancestry of Orkney, his island home. During lockdown, the now London-based composer and multi-instrumentalist performed his Orkney Triptych as part of the Live From The Barbican series. This summer he followed it up with Holm, a collection of tracks that had inspired the Triptych project, as well as b-sides and reworkings by artists and friends, including Paul Weller, Bill Ryder-Jones, Isobel Waller-Bridge, Vince Pope, Marta Salogni and Hayden Thorpe.

At the heart of Holm (the Norse word for a remote small island) is Cooper’s haunting solo piano, a shift away from the prog-rock and folk-pop sound of his previous band, Erland and the Carnival. Cooper’s work is an intriguing and moving blend of stark, ambient electronica and modern classical melody, drawing inspiration from psychogeography, poetry and cinematography.

In association with 432 Presents