Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir has announced a new album, This Will Be Us. The news arrives ahead of the 20th anniversary of her debut record, Mount A. Bringing her musical career full-circle, the new record will feature reimagined tracks from Mount A and its follow-ups Without Sinking and Saman alongside two new compositions. This Will Be Us arrives on October 23rd, with its first single, “Bær,” out now.
Hildur is the record’s sole cellist and producer. Seeking to reimagine her old tracks in orchestral arrangements, she is joined by conductor Robert Ames and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. In a press release, she reflected: “When I was recording, trying to be a one-person string orchestra, I always dreamed of having more people playing with me. Now, twenty years later, I decided to make that dream come true – to give that young person the anniversary gift of hearing her music played by an orchestra.”
The record will be available on vinyl, CD, and a special LP + artcard edition. The album cover artwork was created by acclaimed Icelandic-Danish artist Ólafur Elíasson, with liner notes by Hildur herself and filmmaker Sarah Polley. In addition to the release of This Will Be Us, Mount A, Saman, and Without Sinking will all be released on vinyl.
The first single, “Bær,” originally comes from Saman. Released in 2014, Saman takes its name from the Icelandic word for “together” and reflects Guðnadóttir’s distinctive approach to combining cello and voice. Album track “Biting” is also revisited on This Will Be Us.
Mount A was released in 2006 under the name “Lost in Hildurness.” Hildur recorded the album alone with her cello as a way to, in her words, “hear my own thoughts.” Without Sinking came out three years later, and featured a more collaborative approach. She worked with close musical friends, including Skúli Sverrisson and Jóhann Jóhannsson. Several of Mount A and Without Sinking’s tracks have been reimagined for This Will Be Us.
