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Ludovico Einaudi - Underwater makes 99.5CRB - Instant Replay

Fresh from this year’s triumph of the Nomadland and The Father soundtracks, illustrious composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi announced Underwater, his first new solo piano album in 20 years. Underwater was born in lockdown, utilising the rare opportunity for song-writing in its purest and most intimate form: just Einaudi and his piano. It features 12 newly-composed solo piano tracks, beautifully showcasing his unmistakable musical style which is renowned around the world. Last night saw Einaudi tease fans with a sneak preview to his performance video for first single Luminous, which is released today (watch the full video performance here). The album artwork displays one of Einaudi’s own photographs, perfectly encapsulating the feeling of the album.

On the making of Underwater during the pandemic, Einaudi explains: “It came naturally, more than ever before. I felt a sense of freedom to abandon myself and let the music flow differently. I didn’t have a filter between me and what came out of the piano; it felt very pure. The title Underwater is a metaphor – it is an expression of a very fluid dimension, without interference from outside.”

Underwater follows an astounding year for Einaudi with the release of soundtracks to Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe-winning films Nomadland and The Father (which include tracks from his chart-topping 2019 release Seven Days Walking), and the compilation album Cinema, featuring his composition achievements in film and TV. 2021 also saw the launch of new podcast mini-series Experience: The Ludovico Einaudi Story, starring celebrated filmmakers including multiple award-winning actor and director Russell Crowe (Gladiator), Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), BAFTA-winning director and screenwriter Shane Meadows (This is England), Academy Award winner Florian Zeller (The Father), and multiple award-winning director Eric Toledano (The Intouchables).

Einaudi is one of the most ubiquitous contemporary composers of the century, repeatedly topping the classical charts globally, and has become the highest-streamed classical artist of all time. Einaudi transcends generations and, in addition to his chart and streaming accolades, enjoys over 1 million YouTube subscribers and over 10million views and 150k pieces of content on TikTok.

For Einaudi, Underwater is a deep dive to another place, where he could swim freely without thoughts, without travel and the usual rush of touring. Here time stops, as these songs without words become hypnotic, each touched with an innocent, delicate beauty.  

Einaudi’s first full solo piano album for 20 years is a manifesto for life and a statement for this time when the world around him was quiet and silent.

Featuring 12 beautiful and intimate piano tracks featuring his trademark melodies, the album was written while Ludovico was isolated at his home in Italy. Working without any distractions or the usual commitments that come with his busy schedule he said “I felt a sense of freedom to abandon myself and to let the music flow in a different way. I didn’t have a filter between me and what came out of the piano, it felt very pure.”

Ludovico has been wanting to write a solo piano album for several years but needed the right environment to fully commit to it.

His schedule is so full of tours, soundtracks and everything else he works on that it’s not been possible to have the right environment to be able to write the album he wanted to.

Lockdown gave him this opportunity. He embraced the isolation from his normal busy and complex schedule to find a place of simplicity. So this is a positive take on lockdown and isolation; using this rare opportunity to allow the simple beauty of song writing in its purest form. No technology, no external interference, just Ludovico and his piano.

As a result, the theme around the album is that of freedom from the typical boundaries of our everyday life. This is expressed in the metaphor of “Underwater”. A free and open space where you can move and explore, float, pause, move in 3 dimensions etc. Personally, I think a bird flying the sky also works as a metaphor for that feeling of freedom.

A manifesto for life and a statement for this time when the world around was quiet and silent.

The album is a place that is not our everyday life. It’s a space to float without boundaries, to freely reflect. The title Underwater is a metaphor – it is an expression of a very fluid dimension, without inference from outside. 

Revelatory new recordings, cozy nostalgic favorites, and pieces that remind us to live in the "here and now" are all on our playlist for February. Listen with us!
This series highlights our favorite music of the moment – discoveries we’ve made when we’re at home cooking or cleaning, at the office, or out and about. Classical or otherwise, old, new, or just really cool, these are the tracks we’ve had on repeat this month. Find a cumulative playlist at the end of this post. Happy listening!     Ludovico Einaudi — Underwater makes 99.5CRB - Instant Replay.

Laura Carlo writes….When contemporary Italian composer/pianist Ludovico Einaudi announced last year that he was going to be releasing his first album in 20 years, in January '22, I started the daily search. It was released officially on January 21st and I was thrilled to find it and add it to my collection right away. Underwater contains 12 new piano tracks. I've only had a couple of weeks to start taking it all in... but I found an early favorite, titled "Luminous."       

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