“You will not hear a more beautiful, powerful, and affecting album this year.”

- Tim Sommer, Rock and Roll Globe, 5 of 5 Stars, January 2022.

The Andvaka Suite - An antidote to sleeplessness.

ANDVAKA (Icelandic) Pronunciation IPA: /ˈant.vaːrɪ/ Noun

1. Sleeplessness, The act of staying awake at night.
2. Insomnia, habitual sleeplessness; inability to sleep.

The Andvaka Suite is available now as a digital download and limited-edition cd. A vinyl version will be released at a later date.

Curious Music is very pleased to announce the release of The Andvaka Suite - the Curious Music debut from Icelandic composer Bjarni Biering. The Andvaka Suite is an elegant, thoughtful and ultimatlely restorative reflection on slowing down, healing and well-being.

Biering states about the project -

“Sleep is a naturally recurring state, and an essential function that allows our bodies and minds to recharge.

I have always had a strained relationship with sleep, despite knowing its vital importance to my health and well-being.

It never feels as though there are enough hours in the day. Time is our most valuable asset, a finite resource, and it often feels counterproductive to 'waste' time on sleep.

It is all too easy to fall victim to forms of passive relaxation. How many of us start our day tired with the ambition of an early bedtime, only to find ourselves immovable in front of a screen, or ticking off one more task as the hours tick past midnight? Constant stimulation and a constantly ‘on’ mindset directly impacts our sleep and wreaks havoc on our circadian rhythm. We are rarely given the chance to step back, reflect and recharge.

It sometimes feels as though the hourglass has been knocked down on its side, where time has lost its linearity and we are stuck in a seemingly endless loop, desperately waiting a return to some sort of normalcy.

The Andvaka Suite is a reminder to slow down. To allow space for reflection. To create moments of stillness. And, hopefully, to peacefully transition into restorative sleep.”

About Bjarni Biering

Classically trained in traditional modes of score and technique, Bjarni disrupts the clean classicism of his sound with economically dispersed beats and delicately layered piano. He has developed a holistic style as a composer that merges sight and sound through the lens of human emotion. Bjarni revels both in the quiet, reverent solitude of composition and scoring, and the collaborative process - bringing a practical, unfussy artistry to his work with filmmakers, visual artists and musicians.

After training as a pianist, Bjarni immersed himself in composition, drawn to the endless creative potential of modern recording technology and the freedom of improvisation. His obsession with sound and composition began early, during his childhood in Reykjavík where he would sit in concert halls or in front of his parents’ hi-fi laboriously studying the sounds produced. He would spend endless hours at his piano or computer attempting to recreate, construct and deconstruct those sounds, his own melodies and the works of classical and contemporary composers. This construction and deconstruction can be heard in the music of the internal worlds he creates now, gently building and felling the passage of time and our human experience.

After completing his classical training, Bjarni spent a number of years playing keyboard and piano in various ensembles and bands across South Africa, the UK and the Nordics. But soon, he felt the need to return to his classical roots and studied his BA in Music Composition at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts, and then on to the UK to do an MA in Composition at the University of Bristol. It was during his time in Bristol that his interest in film grew and he began studying, exploring and creating music for screen and other media.

He has scored feature films, documentaries, animations and shorts, as well as advertisements, and written production albums for EMI, Stereo Royal and No Sheet Music. Projects include The Karman Line, a BAFTA nominated short starring Olivia Colman and Having you, starring Anna Friel and Andrew Buchan.

bbmmusic.com