The tribute was an emotional coda to French’s life, bringing together collaborators, admirers, and friends to perform the music he left behind. The performance centred around a rendition of ‘We Didn’t Know We Were Ready,’ a song co-written by French alongside an ensemble that included Ólafur Arnalds, Ye Vagabonds, and Niamh Regan.

Arnalds, an Icelandic composer and longtime collaborator, described the night as “an honour.” Writing on social media, he reflected, “This song is an expression of community and creativity that has now taken on meanings we could never have imagined back when we wrote it.”

Artists like Dermot Kennedy, The Staves, Jófríður Ákadóttir (JFDR), and Christof van der Ven took to the stage, their voices intertwining in honour of a friend. French’s wife, Steph French, lent her own vocals to the occasion. The cello of Kate Ellis provided a mournful undercurrent, while the haunting harmonies of Sandrayati Fay and Laoise Leahy filled the room. 

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A post shared by Ólafur Arnalds (@olafurarnalds)

Eoin French began his career modestly with the Cork band Hush War Cry before stepping out on his own under the name Talos, inspired by the mythical Greek automaton who guarded Crete. His music, like the myth, blended grandeur with fragility, crafting deeply human yet otherworldly soundscapes.

Talos’s 2017 debut album, ‘Wild Alee‘, introduced his ethereal style, with swirling synths and delicate falsetto creating cinematic tracks like ‘Odyssey’ and ‘Your Love Is an Island.’ Critics hailed it as “a spectacularly assured debut,” earning it a Choice Music Prize nomination. His follow-up, ‘Far Out Dust‘ (2019), deepened his exploration of texture and emotion with tracks like ‘The Light Upon Us,’ solidifying his reputation for blending intimacy with universality.

Often compared to Bon Iver and James Blake, French’s music bore a distinctly Irish sensibility, evoking his homeland’s landscapes and poetic traditions while imbuing his songs with quiet spirituality. His final album, ‘Dear Chaos‘ (2022), embraced uncertainty, a fitting coda to his exploration of human complexity.

In December 2024, the posthumous EP ‘Sun Divider,’ created with Icelandic composer Alti Örvarsson, further cemented Talos’s legacy as a transcendent artist whose music defied genre, geography, and time. The EP came to life through a year-long collaboration between Örvarsson and French, with recording sessions split between Iceland and French’s homes in West Cork and London. True to French’s wish that his unfinished work be shared, ‘Sun Divider’ is the first of three projects set for release.

The tribute on Friday (3 January) was more than an event of entertainment; it was a communal act of remembrance. French, who balanced a career in music with his training as an architect, had always viewed his art as a space for reflection. His music, critics often noted, felt like structures built for the soul—delicate but enduring.

‘Loom’ is both gentle and urgent, built around one repetitive refrain. It builds intensely, and then everything falls away, leaving the piano and a whisper of unintelligible lyrics. It carries the listener along at every turn.

Speaking of the whole experience of putting together ‘Loom’, Arnalds says, “I am a long time fan of Bonobo and have been fortunate enough to get to know Simon as a friend in the last few years. Last year we spent a couple of days in the studio, after traveling and camping in the Icelandic highlands, with no intention other than to spend some quality time with music. Later, as I started working on the album, I kept coming back to that one piece, ‘Loom’, as it felt like the perfect album opener. We kept working on it remotely early this spring and the end result is something I’m incredibly proud of.”

Bonobo (real name: Simon Green) said this, “’Loom’ was one of the pieces we worked on together during that time. It was a real honour to create something with Ólafur. A friend and someone I admire greatly.”

Loom ft. @si_bonobo
15.10.20 pic.twitter.com/QSifn23HYv

— Ólafur Arnalds (@OlafurArnalds) October 13, 2020

‘Loom’ is almost completely the other end of the spectrum to Bonobo’s previous collaboration: ‘Heartbreak’, with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. First shared at the end of September, this is a disco-driven, 70s inspired, NYC track through and through, and you can hardly imagine it in the Icelandic highlands. In fact, ‘Heartbreak’ will become the first 12” to be shared on Bonobo’s new label OUTLIER, on November 13. His consistent versatility is inspiring.

Bonobo has certainly been stirring these last few months – until recently, his latest project was his own studio album, Migration, released in 2017. Now, as of October, he has shared two new collaborations, a record label, and even a recent remix of Mercury Prize winner Michael Kiwanuka’s ‘Final Days’ – Bonobo’s first remix since 2016.

Arnalds is also busy in the run up to some kind of peace; he has shared ‘Woven Song’, ‘We Contain Multitudes’ and ‘Back To The Sky’ (a collaboration with JFDR) already. some kind of peace will come out on November 6. Fans won’t have to wait long to see it live (virtually, anyway); he has been announced as the closing act of the first night of Iceland Airwaves’ online festival, Live From Reykjavík, on November 13 at 11pm.