Italian composer, producer, and performer Ed Carlsen signs to new Sony imprint XXIM Records

Toronto, July 9, 2021 – XXIM Records, Sony Masterworks’ new label for innovative, post-genre instrumental music, is proud to welcome Italian composer, producer, and performer ED CARLSEN to its artist family. CARLSEN’s new single, GRAINS OF GOLD, the first to be taken from his forthcoming album of the same name, is available digitally from today.

CARLSEN hails from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia but has spent many years living and travelling all across Europe. A former pilot, his early influences were diverse and eclectic – prog rock and metal were first loves, but also The Beatles and Steven Wilson. An interest in production led him to a degree in Music Technology at the London College of Music, where sound design, and composition for film and visual media, further piqued his creativity.

Of singing to XXIM, CARLSEN says, “joining the Sony family is a dream come true. I was immediately captivated by XXIM’s aesthetics and mission: with them I found a home that stimulates cross-genre mixtures and gives me freedom to explore”. Alexander Buhr, SVP of International A&R at Sony Masterworks, adds, “I’ve followed Ed’s work for a while. Over the past few years, I’ve heard him craft a very distinct sonic language, blending all his musical and cultural influences into a unique world of sound that is entirely his own. I am very excited to welcome him to the label.”

CARLSEN’s work possesses a strong sense of place, with each of his previous albums having been written in, and in response to, a different European city. GRAINS OF GOLD was created in Hamburg during lockdown and, according to Carlsen, reflects the city’s influence, a sense of being stuck in a foreign place, and a longing for his hometown of Caligari. But more than this, CARLSEN sees it as a journey to an imaginary place, a refuge of sorts. He calls it Larya, a city that appears in his mind and dreams, and symbolises the place of perfect balance he needs to reach to create music. The warmth, dreaminess, and, at times, euphoria that mark the character of this album are a direct reflection of that.

So too is the shimmering, glittering title track, evoking a sense of heat and adventure with its swirling guitars and drums. CARLSEN says of the single, “Being far from home for a whole year reminded me of the times when I was free to explore my very own island. Everything came back to me: sounds, scents, views. And it all came back with an euphoric emotional charge that made me feel excited and protected at the same time.”

Preview the GRAINS OF GOLD video here.

GRAINS OF GOLD is a masterful collection of ambient electronica full of epic soundscapes and softly billowing crescendos. It reflects CARLSEN’s quest to find his Larya, both literally and metaphorically, and is wonderfully evocative of not just the search but what one discovers along the way – about life, and yourself. “I think of Larya as representing an ideal state of mind and inner peace – of perfection really,” Says CARLSEN. “It’s where I want to be.”