Manu Delago has announced the forthcoming release of a film and accompanying album, Parasol Peak, out September 7, in which Delago leads an ensemble of seven musicians on a mountaineering expedition in The Alps. Along the way, the group perform a collection of brand new compositions in different locations, at varying altitudes. 

The Austrian-born composer was discovered by Björk, who first invited him to perform alongside on her Biophilia tour. He is now a fixture of Björk’s live lineup and has also toured with The Cinematic Orchestra and Ólafur Arnalds. Further, he earned a Grammy-nomination for his work on Anoushka Shankar’s album Land of Gold, performed hang on Poppy Ackroyd’s latest album Resolve, and appeared as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra.

We’re told that Parasol Peak became an exercise in Delago removing himself from studios, tour buses, and laptops, and seeking to compose and perform both within and as part of nature, using only totally acoustic instruments. Delago was not only inspired to incorporate the ensemble’s natural surroundings in The Alps, but also the percussive sounds of the group’s climbing gear. 

Delago comments: “Of course, performing on acoustic instruments has been done for thousands of years, so I wanted to add an extra component—nature, or more precisely the Alps. I wanted to utilize our surroundings by incorporating lots of percussion sounds like trees, water, little rocks as well as the gear that we were carrying, such as helmets, carabiners or ice axes. 

In support of the release, which lands on September 7 via One Little Indian Records, you can download title track “Parasol Peak” via the WeTransfer button below. (EU readers can stream here and download here due to temporary GDPR restrictions.)