New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today, a new album from Icelandic composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds and the late Irish musician Eoin French, best known as Talos, is announced. Out 11th July, 'A Dawning' is a profound meditation on friendship, loss and experimentation - one that began as a collaboration and became a totem of their creative kinship following Talos' passing last summer.
Alongside the announcement, they share the album's second single, 'Signs', a track that showcases Talos' voice in its most instinctive form. Anchored in delicate textures and electronic flourishes, 'Signs' captures the early stages of their creative journey - morphing and evolving, before direction had been defined, but when the emotional resonance was already undeniable.
Ólafur shares, "At its core, 'Signs' feels like a coming together, a curious meeting of creative souls. It's filled with carefree experimentation and exploration. 'Signs' was the first song that Eoin and I wrote together. It was only shortly after we became friends and we were rather decisively paired together by our friend Mary Hickson at her music residency in Cork - she seemed very sure that we would get along musically. She was right, of course. It was the start of an incredible, inspiring, heartbreaking but heartfelt journey that took us places we could never have imagined in our wildest dreams. So it feels appropriate that it comes out as we announce this album that became the fruit of that journey."
'Signs' follows the project's first single 'We Didn't Know We Were Ready', featuring Niamh Regan, Ye Vagabonds and a choir of friends. The track received a powerful televised debut in January on RTÉ's The Tommy Tiernan Show, where Arnalds and the featured artists were joined by the likes of Dermot Kennedy and The Staves for an emotional live performance of the track.
The album process began in 2023, when French and Arnalds first started working together at Sounds from a Safe Harbour Festival in Cork, when they had both been invited to take part in a residency at the event. They quickly formed a close bond, working in Arnalds' Reykjavík studio and later in French's home in West Cork. When French fell seriously ill during a trip to Iceland, the project deepened in meaning and urgency. Arnalds ultimately finished the album after French's death in August 2024 , guided by the music they created together and the memory of their time shared.
"We made this album together," Arnalds says. "Even after, while I was there working on some arrangements, I never felt like I was truly alone. Near the end, where we were saying how grateful we were to have met each other, he told me, 'You know, I'm still gonna be there.'"
'A Dawning' is testament to those eternal bonds forged through music, a lasting monument to Talos' incredible legacy, his community and the wonderful friendship that he and Arnalds shared.
Ólafur Arnalds is an Icelandic BAFTA-winning composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist known for his ability to blend classical, electronic, and ambient sounds. With critically acclaimed albums and numerous collaborations, Arnalds has become a leading figure in contemporary music, pushing the boundaries of sonic expression.
Eoin French, known professionally as Talos, was an Irish musician celebrated for his evocative voice and genre-defying sound. With influences ranging from electronic to orchestral music, Talos built a loyal following through his deeply personal and atmospheric compositions.
A Dawning Tracklist:
1. Shared Time
2. Signs
3. Bedrock feat. Sandrayati
4. west cork, 12 feb
5. Borrowed Time feat. Alexi Murdoch
6. A Dawning
7. for Steph
8. We Didn't Know We Were Ready feat. Niamh Regan and Ye Vagabonds
