It’s been a decade since Kiasmos released their eponymous debut album, Ólafur Arnalds’ collaborative project with Faroese producer Janus Rasmussen, which showcased the Icelandic composer’s penchant for shoe-shuffling breakbeats. But it’s been a long wait for a follow-up – with the exception of a handful of EPs – as Arnalds has been largely preoccupied by winning Grammy and BAFTA Awards. Until II popped up this year, and had us sobbing all over again.
Kiasmos’ iridescent ambient techno amalgam sits firmly within Arnalds’ neo-classical wheelhouse – likely why they’ve become such a cult success – possessing all the melancholic hallmarks of his solo output, and making his cultural connection to the natural world fairly evident.
“Emotional rave” he and Rasmussen refer to their own output: the Scandinavians had heads spinning and hearts fluttering at London’s Troxy in equal measure. Support Rival Consoles jolting techno piqued the curiosity of the Grade II listed venue’s 2,500-strong capacity crowd, but the headliners ensured the remainder of the evening was nothing short of a meditative midweek rave.
Plumes of smoke shrouded their silhouettes as Arnalds and Rasmussen – separated only by a shimmering prism, which also serves as the duo’s logo – faced each other from their respective decks. They pulled out a major surprise from the get-go, playing ‘Looped’, their most readily recognisable banger, a bold segue from their past to their present. From then onwards Kiasmos’ set meandered on the baseline of breakbeats, rippling through newer cuts like ‘Grown’ and the superb ‘Sailed’ which balance organic and electronic elements with affectionate intricacy, meticulously positioned between optimism and pathos.
The accompanying visual also bolsters the music’s connective tissue to the natural world, all sloshing waves and constellations of stars in warped long exposure. But at times throughout their set, closing my eyes felt too irresistible. Envisaging grandiose glaciers cracking as they separated, honing in on the twinkling dewdrops of Ólafur’s gorgeous piano parts, synths that burst through the clouds like sunbeams – it was a two-stepping sort of gong bath.
Though, on other occasions when it felt almost too palatable, I’d battle notions of hearing them on a chill-out playlist in a gentrification-appropriate coffee shop or smarmy yoga class.
Still, snappy breakbeats propelled Kiasmos forwards, ensuring Troxy’s sound-system was put to the test. Shuddering bass thumped beneath the soaring majesty of string sections in ‘Blurred’ and ‘Burst’, both of which sparkled amid the frantic strobes. As the evening’s crescendo reached its towering peak, the performance could only have gotten more celestial if it wasn’t slap-bang in the middle of the week.
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