Icelandic musician and a programmer Halldór Eldjárn has previously worked with prominent Icelandic artists Björk and Ólafur Arnalds on music and tools aimed at incorporating computer technologies into the artist’s creations. This time round he’s pushing the envelope with his latest collaboration; artificial intelligence. His debut album blurs the lines between technology and composition, using algorithms to generate sounds from images of the moon.
Having played drums from a young age, Halldór started writing his own music and formed the electro-pop band Sykur in 2008. The group went on to release three critically acclaimed albums and tour the world.
His debut album Poco Apollo is an incarnation of a computer generative music piece written around NASA’s photo library from the moon landing, converting about 14 thousand photos of the moon to musical landscapes. Halldór’s solo music is electronic yet organic in texture, delivering an orchestral futurism captured perfectly on the track Heim.
Commenting on the composition, the artist has offered, “Originally this song was generated by a AI driven program I created that turns photos from the moon in to music. The song’s name is in Icelandic and translates to ‘going home’. The marimba is the main instrument on this album, accompanied with a deep string quartet, synths and percussion.”
“It envisions a melodic and hopeful return back to earth after a short trip to the moon,” he added.
Listen to Heim below
