Is this what an aural rendering of nature might sound like? The thought certainly emerges in this collaboration between Iceland’s Ólafur Arnalds and the Faroe Islands’ Janus Rasmussen, bringing to mind visuals of disintegrating icebergs and sea foam crashing on rocks. The titles of the compositions provide clues to the techniques they employ and the almost onomatopoeic atmosphere each one relays.

Arnalds and Rasmussen have talked about creating this record since 2009, but it is only this year they were able to explore their shared love of electronic music. Although Rasmussen is synonymous with the genre (Bloodgroup), Arnalds is better known for his minimal piano and string compositions. It is this contrast that makes this record so thrilling, but they are not opposites, rather doubles echoing each others creativity.

Acoustic instruments sit amid drums, a string quartet, a grand piano, synthesisers and tape delays to produce a very complete musical statement. Lit sets out their thesis: minimal sounds flit their way into the ether before meeting drums that break and rattle, only to melt away for mournful strings and singular piano.The piano on Held keeps the strings at bay, allowing a dissembling of percussion, which speeds up furiously on Looped, and is measured and deep on Swayed. Dragged's ominous introduction provides an anchor for the dubby breakdown, and the brittleness to Bent, with its fractured beats, works brilliantly. The elegiac tone on Burnt, with its swirling drums and gloaming synths, resembles a prayer of sorts.

This is a beautiful record that captures a real sense of living, for we are surely Lit, Held, Looped, Swayed, Thrown, Dragged, Bent, and Burnt.