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Icelandic musical jack-of-all-trades Ólafur Arnalds has released the music video for his track 'Reminiscence' featuring pianist Alice Sara Ott - and starring in it is Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, better known as Gregor Clegane, The Mountain from HBO's hit series Game Of Thrones.
The video features Björnsson as a bare-knuckle fighter preparing for a match, with an elderly frail man as his trainer/father figure - his physical opposite in every sense. The video culminates in Björnsson fighting, and eventually defeating, his opponent (without crushing his head in his hands). Arnalds' track is beautifully lilting and melancholic, and builds to an emotional climax when Björnsson wins the fight. The overall video is heartbreaking, with Arnalds and Ott's lyric-less string-led mini aria morphing the fight into a kind of wistful, fated dance.
Watch the video below
Ólafur Arnalds has much accredited to his name in the music world. Last year, not only did he win the BAFTA for Best Original Music for the score he penned for the BBC drama Broadchurch, but he also released his debut electro-infused album in collaboration with Janus Rasmussen under his project Kiasmos - much to the critics' and the public's delight.
He also has two EPs to his name, and many of his songs have been used in the soundtracks of Hollywood blockbusters such as The Hunger Games and Looper.
16 March is the date on which Arnalds' latest collaboration album is to drop - this time with the aforementionned Alice Sara Ott - entitled The Chopin Project. The album consists of Arnalds and Ott's reimaginings of Chopin's pieces, all played in different ways on different kinds of pianos, each track swathed in synthesisers and strings. Ahead of the album release, Arnalds is currently touring the UK. Full dates and information below. To buy tickets, click here.
20th Feb - Pavillion Theatre Dublin
22nd Feb - Barbican London
23rd Feb - Electric Palace Bridgeport
24th Feb - Glee Club Birmingham
25th Feb - ABC Glasgow
26th Feb - RNCM Concert Hall Manchester
27th Feb - Howard Assembly Room Leeds
