- Record Label: Erased Tapes
- Release Date: Jun 8, 2010
- Critic score
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- By date
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It is not just the contemplative which is a joy--the previously mentioned transitions are the true moments which mark ...and they have escaped the weight of darkness's outstanding quality.
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This set's effortless poise elevates him to the genre's upper echelons. While this success is partly due to the suite's conceptual foundations and strategy, it also benefits from an expanded instrumental palette.
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As Arnalds' boldest and most ambitious take on the form he's pursued so single-mindedly--the robust yet ethereal, mid-tempo tearjerker--...And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness is a success for the composer, and for listeners who don't balk at a little unabashed pageantry.
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The album blends seamlessly into a long musical narrative that speaks of redemption without saying a word.
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Arnalds' game is more ambience than transcendence -- so the four very brief detours into Explosions in the Sky–style post-rock seem all the more cinematic.
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Arnalds' new piano variations are faint, plaintive, and unfurl their radiance like pallid moonlight over a halcyon lagoon.
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UncutThe LP plays as a set piece, buut the frosted beauty of "Kjurrt" is a particular highlight. [Jun 2010, p.81]
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On the few strategic spots in the album where Arnalds drops in drums and/or electric guitar and repetitive motifs, the effect is not dissimilar to the headier moments of the aforementioned Sigúr Ros, or perhaps early-'70s Pink Floyd at their most ethereal, showing the rock crowd that they too have a point of entry into this music.
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Instead of letting the music fool you, Arnalds is composed in presenting works that are full-bodied and mesmerizing.