Portrait

"As a piece of work documenting a career and a way of making music, Portrait is astonishing. The addition of contributors takes nothing away whatsoever from the music's complexity or from Tiersen's genius. At 25 songs, and lasting one hour 37 minutes' playing time, there was always the potential for it all to feel too long, but it completely arrests; being almost impossible to turn off indicates that the sequencing is as compelling as the music".

Read review

"On the striking final track, "Thinking Like a Mountain," Tiersen meditates on the natural harmony between danger and safety with the help of O'Malley, Melanie Knott, and John Grant, who recite excerpts of ecologist Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac over soaring strings and feral, panting backing vocals. It's a fitting end to Portrait, which balances the adventurous and traditional sides of Tiersen's music in a way that honors the sense of wonder and beauty in his work since the beginning".

Read review

"Nu har multiinstrumentalisten [Yann] Tiersen inviteret kunstnere som Gruff Rhys, John Grant, Blonde Redhead og Stephen O'Malley fra Sunn O))) til at genbesøge over to årtiers musik til film samt numre fra studiealbums og diverse projekter ... 'Portrait' varer en time og 37 minutter, og samtlige 25 sange er optaget analogt i Tiersens studie på den franske ø Ushant. Melodierne er delikate, nedbarberede, puritanske. Tiersen har ikke alene dokumenteret en karriere; 'Portrait' er et levende vidnesbyrd om en mand, der - trods det analoge - skaber elektrificerende stemninger".

Read review