Romanian neo-classical composer Andrei Irimia began his musical trajectory when he was quite young. He’s been able to play the piano since he was 8 and has studied through a vast array of different aesthetics over the years. But he always comes back to the piano, an instrument which he feels best allows him to draw out the sounds echoing around in his head. And while he has, on occasion, branched out in his exploration of various genres, his work always finds itself pulled within the gravity of classical music, even when incorporating elements of ambient and experimental music.
Released in 2019, Irimia’s debut album, Nuit Minimaliste, was a series of pieces prepared for solo piano, which drew on his experience and affection for French minimalist music. The melodies were both soothing and crystalline, meticulous in their structure and imbued with a resonance felt long after the music had ended.
“In my opinion, melancholy acts like a filter for self-knowledge,” explains Irimia, “inviting to an inward exploration, to paying attention to emotions, being more open to them and becoming more ‘patient with oneself’. And in musical terms, this ‘patience with oneself’ is built around simple, clear, minimalistic melodic lines, through repetitions and recrafting motifs inspired by the works of Erik Satie, Harold Budd, Philip Glass or William Basinski.”
2021 found him releasing a collaborative EP with actor Marius Manole called Pasãrea Fericirii before heading out on tour across his home country. He released his sophomore album All Strings Attached in 2022 and has been performing across Europe in support – and will perform as part of Eurosonic 2023. Recently, he enlisted the help of Finnish production house Riivata Visuals to create a video for “It Comes at Night”, a highlight from All Strings Attached.
Anchored by bits of burbling noise, clacking percussion, and mournful strings, “It Comes at Night” is a gorgeous platform for Irimia to highlight his otherworldly arrangement skills. There’s a sadness at work here, a brief look at the evitability of change. Fragile and emotionally devastating, the track shivers with the brilliance of his creativity. The accompanying video is filled with images that recall moments of celestial genesis and the sights of a world existing on the surface of an air bubble – everything is expressive and prone to sudden shifts in appearance.
“‘It Comes At Night’ is about embracing our flaws and dark aura,” Irimia explains, “accepting that we cannot be shielded from hurt indefinitely and that only through catharsis are we able to bring about a meaningful change of our personal history.“
Watch the video below.
Andrei Irimia’s most recent album, All Strings Attached, was released last year. Follow Irimia on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
