Ellen Arkbro & Johan Graden share the achingly beautiful “Temple”; new album I get along without you very well out Sept. 23rd

Intellectual property of Miki Anagrius

Ahead of the release of their debut collaborative album I get along without you very well on September 23rd, duo Ellen Arkbro & Johan Graden have shared the achingly beautiful single “Temple”. The song captures the album’s intoxicatingly lush atmosphere and deep vulnerability. Layers of brass and winds envelope Arkbro’s voice with warm chordal drones which pulse like shifting clouds dense with microtonal movement as she guides the ensemble through tensions and exaltations with her tender, patient phrases.

“We had the idea of this song with us for some time, we had an arrangement for brass instruments,” says Arkbro. “However, I found the song to be so delicate so whenever I was writing words to sing I felt that it took away some of the magic. For this reason, I never got around to writing the lyrics until the very last day in the studio.” Graden adds: “This is the only piece on the record where we work explicitly with tuning. This final version of the song is very different from the first draft we made, which was dense with lots of layers. Like with many other songs on the record, we were committed to removing rather than adding elements, and ‘Temple’ embodies this process.”

Ellen Arkbro & Johan Graden embody the limitless curiosity and fearless innovation of the Swedish and Berlin new music scenes they inhabit. Arkbro is a composer and musician whose work has been presented around the globe at prestigious institutions such as the Barbican in London, GRM in Paris and the Kölner Philharmonie in Köln. Graden is one of Sweden’s most sought-after pianists, moving freely between classical music and the European contemporary jazz scene. Currently living in Amman Jordan, he is an active member of the Jordanian experimental pop scene. I get along without you very well expands on the duo’s intoxicating exploration of meditative, spiritual sonics in unexpected ways. It is a beautiful meeting of two friends and inventive musical minds, resulting in the most affecting and surprising of pop albums.

I get along without you very well is a daring statement from two of the most progressive voices in contemporary music. In allowing themselves to be at their most vulnerable – with each other, their collaborators and with listeners – they have created some of their most powerful work to date.

Listen to “Temple” and pre-order the album  here.