The Long Way to Le Léman: Tom Merrall and Antonin Fourrier Map a Lake in Five Piano Pieces
Two Pianists Turn Three Summer Singles Into a Five-Track EP Named for Lake Geneva
Until early 2019, Tom Merrall had never heard a felted piano. Then they heard one, found it peaceful, and started writing for it. Le Léman, a five-track EP made with the French pianist Antonin Fourrier, came out on 18 September 2026. It is where that first listen has led so far.
Tom Merrall and Antonin Fourrier’s Les Vignes sits in the playlist below with our jazz, classical and modern composition picks, and Merrall’s full run of coverage is collected on Tom Merrall’s artist profile. Le Léman reached this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Press play, then stay with us for the story of a felted piano.
Tom Merrall Heard a Felted Piano for the First Time in 2019, and Le Léman Grew From It
Merrall’s own account of that moment is short. The softened sound of a felted piano seemed so calm the first time that Merrall sat down to write music for one. The hope, from the start, was to bring the same quiet to other people. Today Merrall works as a composer, pianist, producer and audio engineer, and shares sheet music for the pieces on their own website.
Antonin Fourrier’s story starts in Montélimar, in south-east France, where he first played on an old piano that belonged to his grandmother. As a teenager he moved to the 14th arrondissement of Paris and carried on at the Conservatoire Paul Dukas. During those years he wrote his first pieces, taking his cue from the city and from the artists and thinkers of earlier centuries.
The two pianists first shared a release on 13 September 2024, a single called The Cove. Almost two years later, they began the run of singles that became Le Léman.
Five French Titles in Twelve Minutes on Le Léman, From Les Vignes to L’Écluse
Le Léman is the customary French name for Lake Geneva. The five titles, in turn, are French words for features of a landscape: Les Vignes (the vines), La Jonction (the junction), Le Ruisseau (the stream), Le Col (the mountain pass) and L’Écluse (the lock). Together they run to twelve minutes and 24 seconds, and La Jonction is the longest at just over three minutes.
Three of them arrived first, a few weeks apart. L’Écluse came out on 17 July 2026, then Le Ruisseau on 14 August and La Jonction on 28 August. Finally, the EP added Les Vignes and Le Col on 18 September and put all five in one place.
On Les Vignes, the credits put Merrall at the piano, list both pianists as composers and name Markus Nordlund as producer. The record came out on Andante Piano, an Amsterdam label launched in October 2020 for neoclassical piano music. The names alternate as well: Merrall comes first on three of the pieces, and Fourrier on Le Col and L’Écluse.
Nils Frahm’s Felt and His Records With Ólafur Arnalds Frame What Le Léman Sets Out to Do
Nils Frahm named a whole album after the technique. Felt, released on Erased Tapes in October 2011, took its title from the felt Nils Frahm laid over his piano strings. At first it was there to quieten the piano for night-time playing, and Frahm kept it because he liked how it sounded.
Ólafur Arnalds shows what two such composers can make together. With Frahm, Arnalds released the EP Stare in 2012 and Loon in 2015, short shared records that sit beside the solo work of both men.
Le Léman follows the same model. It is a brief joint EP between two pianists who each keep a catalogue of their own.
What Le Léman Answers for Tom Merrall and Antonin Fourrier, Two Years After The Cove
The question The Cove left open was whether one shared piece could grow into a body of work. Le Léman answers it with five pieces, three singles across one summer and a release that both pianists put their names to in turn.
It also answers the wish Merrall started with in 2019: piano music meant to help listeners find some peace. At twelve and a half minutes, Le Léman asks for very little time in return.
It suits listeners who keep a quiet piano playlist for reading, writing or the end of the day. It also suits anyone who followed Nils Frahm into softer records and wants new music in that vein from two independent composers.
From the NewMusic.News curator team: “Lake Geneva belongs to two countries, and Le Léman belongs to two pianists. Neither one holds the lead for long, and that balance is what keeps bringing us back.”
Play Le Léman in the player at the top of this page, then follow Tom Merrall on Spotify and Instagram. You can also find the sheet music on the official site and follow Antonin Fourrier on Spotify.
