Frans Bak

Acclaimed Danish composer Frans Bak returns with his latest collection of transcendent vignettes. His compelling new album Piano is out on 29th May 2020 via Dharma Records.

The album is inspired by the love and saviour of the same piano he played on as a child. When his own kids grew up he didn’t have room for it, so he sold it. He later saw an advert in the paper selling that exact piano, so he bought it back. Playing on this piano again, Frans has revisited his childhood years and his love of creating simple and beautiful piano melodies whilst incorporating his extraordinary musical journey to date. Taken from the album is Frans’ new single Parting; a beautifully bittersweet slice of ambience that is filled with harmonically gorgeous interplays between the piano and stunning string quartet throughout. Talking about the single, Frans elaborates, “Parting is about saying goodbye to your loved ones. It was written as a song for a play for The Royal Danish Theatre - being sung at a funeral. The cellist Live Johannson and I have enjoyed playing together a couple of times - so I decided to make a special arrangement for this album.” Throughout the album Frans takes the listener on an undeniably immersive listening experience, constantly pushing boundaries and creating unique soundscapes in order to completely mesmerise with the help of his intricate storytelling charm.

Frans Bak played piano throughout his childhood, immersing himself totally in the melodies that he created, where he found solace.  He later graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music and formed a number of bands, experimenting with music, fusing together his classical training with different genres, sounds and modern technologies, and in doing so, has carved out a unique sound through his own compositions. Today, Frans continues to work as a highly accomplished composer, with over thirty years experience scoring for the film, TV and advertising industries, receiving international critical acclaim for his compositions for Nordic, French, American and British TV series including Disparue, Doctor Foster and Lilyhammer. A pioneer of the Nordic Noir genre, his captivating music for The Killing is widely acclaimed, setting new musical standards for crime TV and inspiring other composers to apply the ‘Nordic feel’.  Frans has also scored three Oscar nominated shorts: Ernst & Lyset, Helmer & Son and Skal vi være kærester?

Piano is out on 29th May 2020 via Dharma Records.