Nils Frahm

German composer Nils Frahm merges acoustic and electronic elements throughout his output, centering chiefly on pianos and synthesizers. Vintage electronic equipment, unusual microphone positioning, and distinctive performance methods shape both his studio productions and live presentations, yielding an intimate sonic signature. Among his recorded works stand the solo piano set The Bells from 2009, the prepared-piano cycle Felt issued in 2011, the melodic synthesizer album All Melody from 2018, and the 2015 soundtrack Victoria. Experimental electro also emerges from his membership in the trio Nonkeen, while further joint projects link him to F.S. Blumm, Anne Müller, Ólafur Arnalds, and DJ Shadow. Concert recordings such as the 2013 collection Spaces and the 2020 release Tripping with Nils Frahm preserve his widely praised stage appearances. The 2021 albums Graz and Old Friends New Friends drew on archival piano material that had remained unreleased until then. A three-hour post-minimalist statement devoid of pianos, Music for Animals, surfaced in 2022. Solo piano returned with the 2024 album Day.

His first full-length effort, Streichelfisch, appeared in 2005 on the AtelierMusik imprint and fused dense electronic glitch textures with acoustic instrumentation. My First EP followed the next year, after which Electric Piano in 2008 signaled a decisive turn toward piano-centered writing. Additional solo keyboard releases Wintermusik on Sonic Pieces and The Bells on Kning Disc garnered favorable responses. Subsequent partnerships developed with electronic and contemporary-classical figures including F.S. Blumm, Machinefabriek, Peter Broderick, and Anne Müller. Felt, an atmospheric prepared-piano album, reached Erased Tapes—the label that would issue most of his later work—in 2011, accompanied by the synthesizer single “Juno.” The minimalist piano record Screws arrived in 2012, the same year Frahm joined Ólafur Arnalds for the Stare EP. Juno Reworked, a 12-inch containing the original tracks plus reinterpretations by Luke Abbott and Clark, emerged in 2013.

Spaces, a live album assembled from two years of performance field recordings, closed out 2013 and became his most celebrated release, drawing widespread critical acclaim. Solo was offered as a free download on March 29, 2015, a date Frahm designated World Piano Day. That year he supplied his first film score, for the single-take German feature Victoria, and also assembled an eclectic Late Night Tales mix. Screws Reworked, featuring fan and musician remixes selected by Frahm, appeared in early 2016. R&S issued two Nonkeen albums the same year; the experimental trio comprises Frahm and childhood friends Frederic Gmeiner and Sepp Singwald. Additional 2016 collaborations included Trance Frendz with Ólafur Arnalds, Tag Eins Tag Zwei with F.S. Blumm, and the Ellis soundtrack with Woodkid.

Following a two-year studio construction project in Berlin, Frahm unveiled the expansive All Melody in 2018 and embarked on a world tour. Companion Encores EPs were issued separately before being gathered as All Encores in 2019. Empty, an upright-piano collection first captured in 2012 for a short film, reached listeners on World Piano Day 2020. Later that year Tripping with Nils Frahm documented the Funkhaus Berlin concert that launched the All Melody tour. Graz, recorded earlier for Erased Tapes yet held back after Felt, finally appeared in 2021. Leiter Verlag, Frahm’s own imprint, released the dub-oriented 2X1=4 with Blumm together with Old Friends New Friends, a survey of largely unreleased solo piano recordings spanning 2009 to 2021. In 2022 Streichelfisch and Electric Piano received their first reissues, while Durton collected material from My First EP alongside previously unheard pieces. Music for Animals, a lengthy synthesizer set drawing on Erik Satie’s notion of furniture music, followed later that year. Day, a concise solo piano album, arrived in 2024.