Henrik Lindstrand - Klangland

Following the release of his lauded solo piano trilogy, Henrik Lindstrand felt the need to expand his vision, in doing so he embarked on his most challenging sonic journey to date in a bid to discover new instrumental narratives and ways to convey emotion through concentrated melody alone. It’s a hunt that has defined his musical career so far, and on ‘Klangland’, his fourth studio album, he took an exacting approach to the process, utilizing a stirring 16-piece string section.

“This album has definitely been my most ambitious work so far” he tells 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 a new one. 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.