We have something very special for you today. Our LCM featured artist is the very talented London based singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist Cerian  We had the absolute pleasure of having both Cerian and Daisy Chute headline our 5th anniversary gig recently. One of our favourite songs in their set was our LCM #SongOfTheDay the beautiful 'Wasteland'. Just released on Friday, it's Cerian's wonderful debut solo single. We love this version, which also features the very talented Robert Taira Wilson. Cerian is one of LCM 'Ones To Watch' in 2018.

Produced by Cerian, "Wasteland" has a dark ethereal folk pop feel; twinkling harp plucks are juxtaposed with its electronic manipulation, and intricate guitar contrasts with orchestral drums and eight-part choral backing. As the first of 5 songs to be released this year forming an EP entitled "Caught in the Dark" due for release in February 2019. 

A lifelong insomniac, Cerian is almost completely nocturnal, and these profoundly personal songs have grown out of her struggle with both the literal and internal darkness felt in the isolation of the early hours of the morning, when she would stay awake writing until dawn.

Written just as she was trying to gain the confidence to share her own music with the world for the first time, Wasteland explores those feelings of loneliness and paralysing fear. Cerian explains: “In the dead of the night, terrifying existentialism takes over: seemingly frozen in time, you feel unable to traverse the space between where you are and where you want to be. The precipice of the unknown future is calling, but you don’t know if you’re going to fly or fall, if you can find the courage to jump.”

Lyrically, it's the drama and fear of the unknown that draws you in: "The precipice calls me, singing my name, but it sounds like a warning; play it again". Featuring Robert Taira Wilson, the single showcases a soulful duet of Cerian and Robert's perfectly complemented voices dramatically building through entrancing soundscapes evocative of London Grammar and Active Child, to create a piece of beautifully crafted dark pop.

Having sung on Radiohead's latest album, and with artists such as U2, Sam Smith, Imogen Heap, Guy Sigsworth, Laura Mvula, Tom Chaplin and Amber Run, "Wasteland" represents Cerian's first offering as a solo artist in her own right.

Photo credit: Tom Leishman

http://www.cerianmusic.com/