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In 2006, Arndt released “Go Out and See” on the Canadian boutique imprint Music Made By People. Go Out and See is a soulful album which feels both vaporous and heavy hearted without being sappy or academic, winning enthusiastic reviews from the likes of XLR8R, The Wire, and Textura. A follow-up EP titled "Be Still" on Japan’s Duotone records, featured 5 more of Arndt’s emotional ebb and flow compositions in limited release. In the summer of 2006, after n5MD label head Mike Cadoo found a demo CD that he had misplaced from Arndt years earlier, Near The Parenthesis was “reunited” with n5MD, which has been Arndt's home since.
“Of Soft Construction” was the first album in the new Near The Parenthesis/n5MD partnership. The album found Arndt displaying a passion, eclecticism and cohesion only previously hinted at in his work. “Tranquil”, “haunting”, “delicate” and “airy” were just a few of the many adjectives used by the press to describe “Of Soft Construction”.
Shortly after a trip to Spain, Arndt set out to complete his first concept release “L’Eixample”. Released in 2008, the album was inspired the moderninst architecture of the L'Eixample district of Barcelona. “L'Eixample” became the first step in a series of albums that introduced an increasing amount of piano composition in Arndt's works and has been perceived to be his most hypnotic, almost religious, by way of its multi-layered tapestries of sound.
In 2009, Arndt took a short break from Near the Parenthesis to produce an EP in collaboration with n5MD alumni Arc Lab which was released on Hidden Shoal Records. The two worked under the name "Down Review" and provided Arndt an outlet for decidedly beat-heavier productions as his works under Near the Parenthesis continued to drift to slower tempos. Exemplified in 2010's "Music for the Forest Concourse", Arndt was back as Near the Parenthesis and produced a highly-thematic album which was to become, in his view, the least "electronic" in his catalog. The work was created for the specific experience of listening outside, specifically at dusk, and was imagined as a collection that could actually be played with a four-piece ensemble of conventional instruments.
Less than a year later, Arndt completed his next album “Japanese for Beginners”. Arndt was intent on creating something decidedly less organic, which includes what may be some of the most creative drum programing of his career. Building on this new platform, Japanese for Beginners continues Arndt's bias and skill in constructing haunting piano motifs and, as always, brings the pieces together seamlessly.
Near The Parenthesis’ music is gentle and restrained, yet deeply layered with a heavy emphasis on evolution and, most of all, emotion.
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