The new album, Grains of Gold, from acclaimed pianist, composer and producer Ed Carlsen. Grains of Gold is a masterful collection of ambient electronica full of epic soundscapes and softly billowing crescendos. This is his first album on XXIM Records, the young post-genre label launched earlier this year by Sony Masterworks and the first of its kind within Sony Music. 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 Cagliari. 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. Self-reflection is a prominent theme, as is Carlsen’s desire to reflect this personal journey in his music: “I see my music as not being what I am, but what I want to be.” Grains of Gold 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.”