Ambient Italian Composer & Producer, Ed Carlsen Releases Second Single Undertown, Taken From Forthcoming Album Grains Of Gold On Sony's XXIM Records

Ed Carlsen, the ambient Italian composer, producer, and musician today releases new single, Undertow. Taken from his forthcoming album, Grains Of Gold, which is set for release on 17th September via XXIM Records (Sony Masterworks' new label for innovative, post-genre instrumental music), Undertow is now available to stream and purchase.

Announced last month with title track and the accompanying music video for Grains Of Gold, Ed Carlsen’s new album continues to build upon an already impressive and ever-growing discography, highlighted by LP’s The Journey Tapes, Elusive Frames and Morning Hour. With each of his album’s possessing a key theme of place and having been written in and in response to a different European city, Grains Of Gold was created in Hamburg during lockdown. Written to reflect the city's influence, a sense of being stuck in a foreign place, and a longing for his hometown of Caligari, Carlsen sees Grains Of Gold as a journey to an imaginary place, a refuge of sorts which he calls, Larya - a city that appears in his mind and dreams, and symbolises the place of perfect balance he needs to reach to create music.

“I’ve been dreaming of this city for many years now. It’s an ideal city – never hot or cold, or loud or quiet. All is peaceful and still. And I think of it as representing an ideal state of mind, and inner peace – of perfection really” – Ed Carlsen

Before embarking on his musical path and becoming an acclaimed musician, Carlsen was a pilot. A perfect vocation which matched his wanderlust and thirst for adventure, but gradually music took over and became his focus.

Playing both guitar and piano, Carlsen’s early influences were diverse and eclectic. Prog rock and metal were first loves, but also The Beatles and records by the likes of Steven Wilson. An interest in production led him to a degree in Music Technology at the London College of Music, where sound design, and composition for film and visual media, further piqued his creativity. Combined with his unconventional approach to playing instruments, it gave his new work an intriguing edge; innovative, exciting, daring.

The music he started creating was imbued with aspects from both of these two, disparate professions – the pilot and the musician. Technical yet meditative, precise yet poignant. “Feet on the ground, head in the sky,” is how he sums up this duality, highlighted by curious textures, crisp beats, hazy synth washes, delicate electronica all contrasting with a reflective sense of intimacy.

In early 2020, Carlsen moved to Hamburg, his mood informed not just by the emotion of once again starting anew in an unfamiliar place, but the unease of lockdown and the sense of dread enveloping the world. On September 17th, the culmination of Carlsen’s stay in Hamburg will be released as his latest body of work. A highly personal collection of ambient soundscapes, electronica and billowing crescendos, Grains Of Gold is now available to pre-order here.

Ed Carlsen – Undertow – Out now via XXIM Records.