There are artists who compose and there are those who transcend composition and melody like emotion etched into frost. Enter Soek, the evocative solo project of composer Grant Borland, a name you may not know but whose work you’ve undoubtedly felt through cinematic scores for Netflix, Apple TV, and Disney+. With Soek, Borland strips away the visual frame and lets the music tell its own story—pure, intimate, and utterly transportive.
“Scania,” the debut single released June 3, 2025, is a declaration. Written in the wake of Borland’s journey to Iceland in August 2024, this track unfolds like a personal diary entry written in harmony and reverb. It’s a love letter to landscape, solitude, and the brief, fleeting moments that alter your sense of self.
Opening with the soft hush of ambient textures, ‘Scania’ tiptoes into frame with minimal electronic brushstrokes. The track is built with a kind of Nordic restraint, but as live strings (performed exquisitely by Martin Kutnar and Session Strings Studio) begin to unfurl, they bring warmth and movement, like the rising steam from a geothermal spring. The string performance is patient and tender, never overwhelming—just enough to make the silence between the notes matter.
Borland’s production is masterfully subtle, never calling attention to itself. The mix breathes with intention. You feel the space between elements, the contrast between synthetic and organic. The mastering by Piotr Wieczorek adds a final layer of polish—silken, dynamic, and emotionally resonant, matching the standard of his previous work with top-tier artists.
For fans of Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, and the modern classical vanguard, Scania is both a kindred spirit and a fresh new voice. But Soek isn’t just echoing influence—he’s crafting a language of his own, one that speaks in emotional resonance rather than words.
Listen to ‘Scania’ on Spotify
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