Snorri Hallgrímsson – Deutsche Grammophon Announces New Project: Nowhere Sessions
The multi-award winning Icelandic composer and producer presents
both re-arranged and newly composed thoughtful and intimate tracks
“Hallgrímsson has an innate understanding of
using space and quiet to make a point”
Higher Plain Music
Nowhere Sessions is released on 8th of May 2026
First IG “The Stars Will Dim” will be released on 6th March 2026
Icelandic composer Snorri Hallgrímsson will release his new album Nowhere Sessions via Deutsche Grammophon on the 8th of May 2026, a deeply personal work recorded in a secluded cabin in the Icelandic countryside — a place that has belonged to his family for decades. Surrounded by vast landscapes and near-total silence, the album captures a rare moment of stillness, marking the first time the artist has ever recorded music in this meaningful location.
Far removed from studios and cities, the cabin stands “somewhere in the nowhere” of Iceland. For Hallgrímsson, it is not only a retreat but a place of memory and continuity. Choosing to record there was both a creative and emotional decision. The isolation shaped the session profoundly, allowing space, silence, and breath to become part of the recordings themselves.
“This cabin is my favourite place in the world. It’s been in my family for over half a century and I’ve been going there all my life. A few years ago I made an album named after the area called “Landbrot”, which when translated literally means land fracture – but it can also mean an oasis. Which I find very appropriate as the cabin stands on the edge of a lava field, on top of a grassy hill overlooking two lakes. And this place is like a mental oasis to me: a reset button.”
The album was filmed and recorded with close friends, emphasizing trust, intimacy, and shared presence over technical perfection. Hallgrímsson performs his own piano parts, accompanied by subtle, carefully arranged strings. In one track, he also lends his voice — used sparingly, almost as another instrument — adding a fragile human layer to the soundscape. The artwork has been painted by the Icelandic artist Elín Elísabet, a close friend of the composer.
“I’ve never recorded music there until now. The cabin and its surroundings are almost sacred to me, so it was important to me to play and record with people I know, love and feel comfortable around. To record my music live, with these human beings, in this place, was such a beautiful experience.“
Known for his quiet and introspective style, Hallgrímsson’s music unfolds slowly. The compositions are melancholic but never heavy, restrained yet deeply expressive. Notes linger. Pauses matter. The silence between sounds is as important as the sounds themselves.
“The Nowhere Sessions are raw, honest, intimate, and calm. My hope is that through them the listener can experience at least some of the calm this place gives me.”
The album will contain 9 tracks, including both re-arrangements and new compositions, and will be released on 8th of May 2026 via Deutsche Grammophon.
One of music’s best-kept secrets, whilst his music is streamed more than 3m times a month, solo artist, film composer and producer Snorri Hallgrímsson grew up in a strong Icelandic choral tradition, beginning his career as a classical guitarist before falling in love with film music in his teens and going on to study composition at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and at Berklee College of Music. In his music, Snorri is able to find ways to balance emotion without invoking overdramatic exuberance. His string arrangements, informed by his early and continued involvement in choral singing, are deeply atmospheric.
His debut solo album, Orbit, was released in 2018, two years after he returned to Iceland having lived away in Spain and Mexico and traces the journey of living in different environments, whilst characterized by Icelandic melancholy and electronic undercurrents. The double EP Landbrot I and Landbrot II: an introspective and personal collection of instrumental pieces for piano and strings, was released in 2020–2021. Snorri’s 2nd full length album, I Am Weary, Don’t Let Me Rest was released in June 2023 and went on to receive 3 nominations at the Icelandic Music Awards – winning 1 award for Production of the Year.
In 2024, Snorri signed with Deutsche Grammophon. His debut release with the renowned label being the EP Longer shadows, softer stones. His 2nd EP via the yellow label The Importance of Birds followed 2025.
Snorri collaborated with Ólafur Arnalds on the BAFTA award winning score for Broadchurch. His impressive growing list of individual film credits include; Jaula/The Chalk Line (released in 2022, the #2 most watched film globally (non-English language) on Netflix, for 4 weeks running) and the documentary feature Innocence (launched at the 2022 Venice Film Festival and for which Snorri won Best OST at the 2025 Icelandic Music Awards). Released in cinema’s worldwide in May 2025, his most recent score was for Words of War, directed by James Strong (Broadchurch) and produced and distributed by Sean Penn’s production company.
