∞ (Infinity)

Yann Tiersen is best known for the music he contributed to the Amélie soundtrack in 2001. A number of tracks from his early albums were picked to accompany the film, and the man from Brittany saw his profile greatly expand. He’s continued to issue albums and provided a live score to the Fantomas series, which he curated at the Theatre de Chatelet. Infinity was conceived in Iceland, where Tiersen began work on the album. For authenticity’s sake, he worked with native speakers when crafting tracks sung and spoken in his native Breton (“Ar Maen Bihan”), Faroese (“Gronjord”), and Icelandic (“Steinm”). The album, like much of his work, combines the atmospherics of incidental music with an occasional nod toward the progressive narrative of conventional songwriting. “In Our Minds” builds to an orchestral climax worthy of side one of Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother. Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat collaborates on “Meteorites,” the album’s intense finale.