Keyboardist/composer Heather Shannon performs her bold solo work for piano, Midnight Sun, an atmospheric rendering of her inner self in flux.

Best known as the keyboardist in the beloved art-pop band The Jezabels, Shannon has since turned her focus to composition and solo modes of performance. Intent on deconstructing what she considers an outmoded dichotomy between the hallowed classical tradition and popdom, while redefining the avant-garde, Midnight Sun is comparable to the output of boundary-breakers like film composer (and Art Of Noise alumni) Anne Dudley, Icelandic art-popster Björk, and experimental pianist Nils Frahm.

"I've come from this contemporary music world and now I'm operating in more of a classical world, but they're both related," Shannon says. "The Jezabels is such a huge part of my musical experience, learning how to write music through improvisation and collaborating and all of that really feeds into everything that I do now."

The suite was composed in the relative isolation of a north-western Icelandic town called ísafjörður.

Described by The Guardian as "...jagged, aching and transportive..." the music swings between resolution and uncertainty, evoking a peaceful quality that is disturbed by dissonant motifs.

"The landscape was so incredibly beautiful. It's quite overwhelming how sublime the nature is there. I think there was something about just how unfamiliar it was that almost helped me to get my ideas out on paper. The music reflects my disorientation in the natural landscape, but also the solitude and the peace and quiet and being alone.”

Midnight Sun is an exquisite, cinematic evocation of the Arctic Circle’s polar days and bleakly beautiful Westfjord scenery where she found inner solace.