Ola Gjeilo presents a stunning collection of brand new original works for solo piano, composed and performed by Gjeilo himself.

An intimate and meditative collection of peaceful piano music, inspired by Gjeilo’s experience of the Night in the place he calls home, New York City.

One single to be released every month from August, with the full album release to follow in January 2020.

These brand new short tracks are perfect for targeting easy-listening, calm, relaxing and sleep playlists.

Best known as a composer of choral and instrumental music, Ola Gjeilo frequently performs on his recordings as an accompanist. However, for this 2020 Decca album, Gjeilo is the soloist, playing piano on all 18 tracks, and the character of Night is one of simple tonal melodies and quiet atmosphere. A song impulse runs throughout the album, at times making this collection seem rather in need of lyrics and a vocalist who could bring real expression to the music. As it stands, though, Night lacks the focus that inspired texts could give it, and the bland harmonies, easy arpeggios, and gentle, slowly spun out melodies work against any notions of direction or substance. A quick sample of titles, such as Firefly, Sleepless, Still, City Lights, Night Rain, and so on, give a fair idea of what Gjeilo is trying to achieve. Yet instead of creating a vaguely poetic ambiance, they point to the interchangeability of his titles and music, and his fairly uniform touch and avoidance of bold, dramatic strokes makes this album only suitable as inobtrusive background music. – Blair Sanderson