Symphonic Meditations from Ólafur Arnalds
An emotional conjurer. His use of strings isn't even fair! The ambient/electronic tracks from icelandic multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds use strings and piano with loops to wondrous effect. Some of his melancholy ensembles have been used in film scoring and his wintery soundscapes can manifest the arctic beauty of his homeland. I use Ólafur's songs to fall asleep.
I hear his music and I close my eyes and suddenly I'm in the woods, where it's night time and it's gently snowing, I'm just meandering through the forest hills like someone in shock, meaninglessly watching snow falling so slow... then the magic strings take over and they make me feel the weight of all the people I loved that never loved me, the bittersweetness swells until I can't stand it and then everything is still, the dark beauty burns away the cancer of regret and fear and loneliness and purged I fall asleep.