Nils Frahm’s style is one that, for a critic, is an absolute pain to pin down. I’ve seen him categorised as indie classical (along with Bryce Dessner, Ólafur Arnalds, Nico Muhly, et al), neo-or-modern classical (which are both incredibly amorphous names for a genre), electronic (again, amorphous), and most surprising of all, ambient (think Brian Eno’s Music for Airports from the ‘70s). He’s released sheet music collections of his pieces, so it’s tempting to say at least somewhat classical, but there’s a heavy emphasis on synthesisers and electronic manipulation, which aren’t generally part of the trad classical concert pianist’s wheelhouse. I actually first encountered his music through producer DJ Shadow’s 2016 album The Mountain Will Fall, where Frahm featured on the track “Bergschrund”, so that’s a point for the electronic side of things.

Nils Frahm at QPAC. Photograph © Bianca Holderness

So, given all of these stylistic cross-overs, what exactly happens in his music? Well, Frahm’s “Says” from his 2013 album Spaces serves as a good case in point. Here, Frahm begins with a long looped synthesiser arpeggio that bubbles throughout the track. A single piano note pierces the arpeggio, before curving down...