Jacob Mühlrad Releases Debut Album 'Time'

Those who peep through the window of Jacob Mühlrad's studio in Stockholm will see the composer busy behind his computer screen, perhaps blasting some Drake or FKA Twigs as he works on his own music. Judging from the outside, one might think that the fashionably dressed and energetic 29- year-old is producing a hip-hop or pop album, when in fact, behind those doors Jacob's on a very different and deep kind of journey; composing choir music that deals with themes of mortality, of the human condition, of tradition and of the holy. It's exactly this dichotomy, between expressiveness and profundity which makes Jacob's work so unique and fascinating - he is known for infusing archaic and pious music with a brilliant modernity and sense of youthfulness.

Jacob's debut album, Time (out via Deutsche Grammophon) marries rhythm and words to the existential questions of humanity, and in that fusion attempts to understand the incomprehensible and express the eternal through new sounds.

Much before turning to music, metaphysical matters already nagged in Jacob's mind; as a young boy he was greatly devoted to his Jewish faith to the point of considering pursuing special religious studies to become a rabbi. An old synthesizer repaired by his father marked the serendipitous beginning of Jacob's path with music, and with it the transition from a love of God to a love of sound. Time retains elements of the rituality he was first introduced to in religious prayer - from fragments of Jewish liturgy to the use of repetition as a means to attain spiritual insights.

Far from an easy-listening experience this album is demanding, it requires the listener the same kind of diligence and focus that is required in religious rituals. With focus though, Time unfolds as a sound journey filled with moments of clarity and a kind of beauty that's best described as sublime. Time is also an excellent example of how art music continues to transcend categorisation, igniting exciting cross-discipline collaborations such as the one forged in the video for Time's title track with renowned creative director, Alexander Wessely.

Watch the video for Time here:

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