Gabríel Ólafs

Icelandic wunderkind Gabríel Ólafs composes prodigiously beautiful short pieces for solo piano and chamber ensemble. Lush and heavily cinematic, Ólafs’s debut album, Absent Minded, appeared in 2019, with the emotional and transformative Solon Islandus arriving in 2022.
Born and raised in a small, isolated suburb of Reykjavík, he began to study classical piano at the age of five, but annoyed his teachers by going off on tangents and putting his own twist on the music. Later he switched to jazz piano, which he enjoyed more, and then became inspired by film scores. An entirely self-taught composer, he wrote his first piece, “Absent Minded,” at the age of 14, and continued composing throughout his adolescence. Inspired by such small things as his mother’s garden, a poster, or a friend’s name, he created imaginative flights of fancy as scores to non-existent films. The cinematic lushness of his pieces recalls early Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dustin O'Halloran, and Ólafur Arnalds, and the breathing silences between the phrases Sylvain Chauveau and Nils Frahm (both Jóhannsson and Frahm were acknowledged as heavy influences, along with John Williams, Chet Baker, and Emilíana Torrini). Ólafs shot to stardom in his home country at just 19 years old with his debut performance, which was broadcast live on TV. There he was discovered and signed by One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian), home of other Icelandic artists like Björk, Mínus, and Torrini. After working on it for two years, he released his debut album, Absent Minded, in 2019. A companion EP of solo piano versions, Piano Works, followed it in 2020. Two years later, Ólafs released his sophomore long-player, Solon Islandus. A concept album inspired by the writings of Icelandic poet Davíd Stefánsson, the evocative set featured piano, choral, and ensemble works with spoken word elements. ~ John D. Buchanan