Danish composer Emil Friis has just released ‘For Goodbyes’, the final single from his forthcoming album ‘Moving Images’ ahead of its September 5th release. The album marks Friis’ debut solo release with FatCat Records’ modern classical imprint 130701, and serves as a profound meditation on memories, connection, imagination, and the subtle forces that shape the human spirit.
And kudos to his publicity company for using the adjective forthcoming rather than the grating upcoming; these things matter to me and that’s the first one I’ve seen in years!
I couldn’t help but be drawn to Emil’s remarks about his interest in time and its passing and how the world that he grew up in no longer exists and every day marks a further extension from it. Hence the song is an ode to moving on and how certainties become merely memories.
I guess everyone can relate to that but there is another side to it because the past was always better, wasn’t it? – even if you can’t recall all the bad times now.
I don’t know about Denmark but the UK has reached a tipping point today where the demand for a return to the country that existed until around 30 years ago is becoming deafening even if it is unachievable and the mood music that accompanies Great Britain 2025 is solemn, almost like a requiem mass.
And that is one of the biggest attractions to me of this piece. It might accompany the lowering of the Union Flag at the Palace of Westminster for the final time as the sun sets forever on what was the World’s greatest Empire.
As a bonus there is a video and I opted to show it rather than give access to the Spotify track.
To bring the music’s emotional core to life, Emil Friis invited filmmakers including Kevin Brooks, Shaun Hart, Morgan Jon Fox and Jonathan Meyers to create short films inspired by individual tracks.
Each director was given complete creative freedom to respond visually, resulting in a series of monthly releases that blur the boundaries between modern classical music and cinema.
This one, by Kevin Brooks, is quite remarkable. Hand on heart I never thought I would ever hear and see anything so on point and moving as Weyes Blood’s video (by Adam Curtis) for her ‘God turn me into a flower’.
But Kevin Brooks’ work is right up there and the level of spiritualism inherent in it is perfectly on par.
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