A New Collaboration Between Ólafur Arnalds And RY X

Innovative Icelandic composer, musician and producer Ólafur Arnalds has teamed up with Australia-born, LA-based singer, songwriter, and electronic producer RY X to create the ethereal, beat-driven vocal track ‘Oceans’, out on Mercury KX on January 31.

Using a sample from Ólafur’s original composition ypsilon as the basis of the new track, RY X has written original lyrics and layered his sensual vocals with percussion and synths to complement Ólafur’s signature piano sound.

Ólafur says he has been a fan of  RY X for a “long time,” adding “On a whim I decided to contact him to make a remix for my album, but after a few times back and forth we started moving further away from the original song that I asked Ry to remix and we eventually realised we had started a real collaboration. A deeply inspiring one that I don’t see ending anytime soon.”

RY X comments: “I have respected and deeply appreciated Ólafur’s sounds and compositions for years, so when he reached out about a possible collaboration I was honoured to lean in and let the creative process lead. We wanted to approach something a little differently than our audiences and communities might traditionally expect from our sonic worlds. To push boundaries of style and genre, and thus a more tempo driven song came to light between us.”

The power of intense, passionate music to pull audiences into an intimate space is something at which RY X excels. After the break-out success of his minimalist EP ‘Berlin’, RY X went on to release two acclaimed LPs – 2016’s Dawn and 2019’s Unfurl – and sell out a string of shows across Europe, the US and Australia, including a sensational sold-out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Having recently wrapped up a 140+ date global tour in support of his latest album, re:member, Ólafur Arnalds has now released a special deluxe edition of re:member, including 4 LPs with brand new arrangements and live reworks, on Mercury KX.