Known for her ethereal voice and eclectic musical style, Torrini gained international recognition with her album "Love in the Time of Science" in 1999. One of Torrini's solo successes came with the release of "Jungle Drum" in 2009. The single gained widespread acclaim and reached the top of the charts in several European countries. 2024 sees Emiliana Torrini come back with her first studio album in nearly 10 years. The new album combines all of Emiliana`s strengths and marks a fulminant return.

TRACK LISTING

1. Black Water
2. Lady K
3. Waterhole
4. Dreamers
5. Miss Flower
6. Black Lion Lane
7. Let`s Keep Dancing
8. Love Poem
9. The Golden Thread
10. A Dream Through The Floorboards

There’s something almost magical about a great collaboration. When two artists are able to synchronize on an infinitesimal level, where each note and breath and strum aligns to create a perfect whole. The Colorist Orchestra know how to do this — in fact, they’ve made it their speciality. Since 2013, the Belgian duo (comprised of multi-instrumentalists and longtime friends Aarich Jespers and Kobe Proesmans) have made a career out of reimagining the discographies of a wide array of artists, using their background in pop, electronic, and world music to transform the songs.

Recently, they have reconnected with acclaimed Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilina Torrini, with whom they first collaborated in 2018 on the album The Colorist Orchestra & Emiliana Torrini. This time, however, their project exceeded even their own expectations.

In 2023, The Colorist Orchestra and Emiliana will release Racing the Storm, a joint record that takes both artists to towering new heights. An album of all original material, it melds TCO’s classical chamber pop roots with the power and fragility of Emiliana’s understated songwriting.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A thoroughly hypnotic selection of classical-leaning electronic lounge business here from the wonderful Colorist Orchestra, all topped with Emilíana Torrini's beguiling vocal charms. Racing The Storm is clearly an album steeped in influence, but what comes out at the end could only have been made by this pairing. Beautiful.

TRACK LISTING

Mikos
You Left Me In Bloom
Hilton
Dove
Wedding Song
Right Here
Smoke Trails
A Scene From A Movie
The Illusion Curse
Racing The Storm
Lonesome Fears

“Home alone and happy / Nothing brings me down"

So opens Emiliana Torrini’s second album and first for Rough Trade, a soft-yet-searing collection of twelve intimate and atmospheric songs that will whisper their way into your bloodstream. Back in 1999, when the singer released the critically acclaimed Love In The Time Of Science, Emiliana came out with a gorgeous, electronic triphoppin’ vision of endless summer and moonlit nights out.

Following her departure from One Little Indian, there’s a new introspection, closer to Nick Drake or Jolie Holland than Portishead or Goldfrapp. The 27-year-old singer and writer has nonetheless been busy since Love In The Time Of Science. She moved to Brighton, joined the cast of Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers to perform the enchanting ‘Gollum Song’ wrote and toured with Thievery Corporation, and wrote a Number One Hit for Kylie Minogue in the shape of huge-selling pop smash ‘Slow’.

Fifth solo studio album from world-renowned scratch DJ, producer, composer and graphic novelist Kid Koala.

Kid Koala’s first vocal collaboration / first time as lyricist / first instrumental composition and his first release on Arts & Crafts, following four albums on seminal electronic label Ninja Tune.

Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini features on this first instalment of the ‘Music To Draw To’ collaborative series.

Kid Koala’s lyrics tell a story of discovery and loss, based on the Mars 1 Mission.

Inspired by Kid Koala’s interactive ‘Music To Draw To’ and ‘Satellite’ multimedia events.
Contributed to film scores ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ and ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’, among others.

He has composed music for Cartoon Network, Sesame Street, Adult Swim and the National Film Board Of Canada.

TRACK LISTING

The Observable Universe
Adrift
Transmission 1
Fallaway
Perihelion
Photons
Beneath The Heat
Novachord
Transmission 2
Collapser
Transmission 3
The Hubble Constant
Satellite
Apoapsis
Nightfall
The Darkest Day
Epilogue
Nightfall Pale Blue

Rough Trade release a collaborative album by Emiliana Torrini & The Colorist Orchestra. This is a live album containing nine Emiliana Torrini songs from her catalogue along with two brand new songs. Seeing Emilíana and The Colorist Orchestra in concert is a truly special experience. They have a musical chemistry that is undeniable and documenting the experience on an album was something that just had to be done.

The Colorist Orchestra are a Belgian ensemble founded by Aarich Jespers and Kobe Proesmans in 2013. They re-envision the repertoires of established musicians from across genres using traditional classical instruments and arrangements, along with a variety of their own musical inventions to contribute innovative, never-before-heard sounds and grooves to their compositions and re-compositions.

When Jespers and Proesmans, fans of Torrini’s rich catalogue, invited her to collaborate on a series of live concerts she was intrigued and asked them to recompose one of her songs to see what their concept was all about. The result, a wholly novel rendition of ‘Animal Games’, from her most recent album ‘Tookah’, convinced Torrini that working with the group was a creative opportunity that she shouldn’t dare miss.

The group created a new world out of the music and while Torrini admitted that she could barely recognize many of her own songs in the rearrangements, the collaboration - from emails and Skype calls to rehearsals, soundchecks and finally the live concerts - came together organically and beautifully, with Torrini’s talent elevating the Colorist ensemble’s creativity and the group helping her rediscover the joy and the power within her own songs in this new light. The shows’ reception from audiences and press was exceptional and the Colorist members and Torrini realized a live album would enable them to share this magical experience more broadly.

Two brand new Emiliana Torrini songs debut on this album: ‘Nightfall’, written by Kid Koala and Torrini; and ‘When We Dance’, written by Jespers, Proesmans and Torrini. The latter reflects the musical chemistry the three musicians developed during the process of rehearsal and performance for the Colorist concerts.

Emiliana Torrini’s voice has been embedded in your brain over the last 20 years whether you knew it or not. She was a member of GusGus and she’s written / produced / performed numerous songs and hits with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Thievery Corporation, Bill Callahan and more. She herself had a #1 hit in a few countries with the song ‘Jungle Drum’ and in Germany it stayed in the #1 position for nine weeks. She contributed a song to the multi-platinum ‘Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers’ Soundtrack and her songs have been featured in many television shows. Her debut album was released in 1999 and was followed by three more critically acclaimed titles.

“Ms. Torrini’s voice is warm and whispery and appealingly unpredictable: she knows when to flatten the melody with a half spoke phrase and when to carry it up and away.” - The New York Times

‘Tookah’ is Emiliana Torrini’s fourth album and follows 2008’s fantastically received ‘Me And Armini’.

The album sees Emiliana back in the studio with her longterm producer / collaborator Dan Carey. As well as Emiliana’s three previous albums the pair co-wrote and produced Kylie Minogue’s Grammy award-nominated track ‘Slow’ which went straight to Number 1 upon release. ‘Jungle Drum’ from Emiliana’s last album ‘Me And Armini’ also charted at number 1 in several countries including Germany where it stayed for 9 weeks.

Of the album Emiliana says: “For me the first album was learning to write songs, the second was working on my own melodies and lyrics and the last album ‘Me and Armini’ was about learning to let go. With this record, it’s much more about the exploration of sonics and visual landscaping in order to find my own sound. I am a craftswoman and for me this record has been about Dan (Carey) and I evolving and going on a sound journey.

“‘Tookah’ is a made up name or word, which I connected with in a very deep and blissful way. It is the core of you, the you when you were born before life decorated you like a Christmas tree with all your baggage. It is what connects us with everyone and everything. It is what the Sufis spin for. It is the sudden thankfulness you feel when doing nothing in particular, where everything is gently perfect for a moment. Some call it god. I call mine ‘Tookah’.”