Henrik Lindstrand and Halvcirkel - The Transformer Session (2023)

Composer and pianist Henrik Lindstrand’s fourth album, ‘Klangland’, was a departure from his lauded solo piano trilogy and saw him utilising a stirring and dramatic string section to elevate his emotive, minimalist compositions. On ‘The Transformer Session’ he was joined by the Nordic string quartet Halvcirkel to record in a former Transformer Station outside of Copenhagen.

The four track EP is an intimate example of Henrik’s expedition into the world of string arrangement, favouring a smaller ensemble to the 16-piece he recorded with for the album. The setting he creates with this session is one of exquisite harmonies that never compromise the delicacy of the pieces themselves. It’s a striking balance that provides depth, as well as giving the listener the chance to sit behind the creative curtain and get inside of Henrik’s process.

The strings emerge and start to sculpt the emotive cadence of this expressive ensemble. The keys play in and together the atmosphere shifts into this affectionate character. Another truly raw arrangement alters the mood of the listener as they embrace the vivid journey from start to finish. Through the tender landscape that embraces this fragility, a tremendous range of emotions emit. A story surrounds the movement and captures so much, whilst the textures fluctuate and continue to showcase this sublime range from the artist.

Of the collection Henrik tells us; “The Transformer Session was a way for me to try out the material from Klangland with a smaller string group. I really like the sound of “Halvcirkel” and asked them to join me on the project. We recorded and filmed the session in a former Transformer Station close to my own studio in Copenhagen. It turned out to be a great room acoustically and the atmospheric live filming will also be released alongside the EP. I´m very excited to share the results.”

The album ‘Klangland’, out now via One Little Independent Records, was recorded in Berlin by engineer Francesco Donadello and conducted by The London Contemporary Orchestra’s Robert Ames.

“This album was definitely my most ambitious work so far” he told us, “I knew that I was going to get out of the piano-only dogma that I had on the trilogy. And I was excited to involve other instruments, but I didn’t know beforehand where I was heading. It took a lot of effort over a couple of months before I ended up with the idea of including a string ensemble, I did lots of experimenting with a wide range of sound sources, and tried to broaden my palette as much as possible”.

Henrik has a longstanding relationship with strings as it is (his name is attached to several orchestral soundtracks) so on his aural travels he found himself once again at home, albeit in a different way. This is echoed in his real life, he had relocated with his family to the West coast of Sealand, away from the city, and his explorations became a way for him to express something of a transitionary period. He wrote an almost complete album before scrapping it and starting again, coveting further reinvention the more he pushed himself.

Henrik’s talents lie in the expression of complex emotion with minimalist compositions. He believes in the importance of space, that the gaps between keys are as important to his stories as the notes themselves. It’s a streamlined, effective simplicity that sheds any unnecessary weight and allows each track to glide effortlessly into one’s imagination before making themselves at home.

Henrik Lindstrand has a lot of strings to his academic bow, as well as being a respected multi-instrumentalist in his own right, he’s built a career as a highly regarded composer for television and cinema, as well as the hugely successful and award-winning computer game, LEGO Builder´s Journey. Builder’s Journey won SPILPRISEN’s award for Best Audio and Best Visuals as well as Mobile Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.

He released ‘Reimagined’, a collection of compositional reworks by some of the best contemporary artists working today. It features the likes of Anne Müller, Manu Delago, Tom Adams, Christina Vantzou, Alex Somers, Benoît Pioulard and more. He also released a book of his material, a selection of 21 transcriptions and arrangements for piano from his three albums.

In early ‘22 Kashmir, one of Scandinavia’s most prominent and acclaimed bands with whom Henrik has toured the world extensively as keyboard player and guitarist, reformed for their postponed concerts. They played three sold-out arena shows in Denmark and headlined four major festivals. The resulting reviews were universally ecstatic describing the band as “at top of their game”.

Tracklist
1 Jord (Transformer Session)
2 Klangland (Transformer Session)
3 Leva (Transformer Session)
4 Millimeter (Transformer Session)