Cerulean [LP]

Danny L Harle's album Cerulean marks his first full-length release on XL Recordings and his most definitive artistic statement to date. Following 2021's immersive Harlecore project, Harle considers Cerulean his true debut. "This is my debut album-It really is the big one."Cerulean is a voyage into vast, alien sonic landscapes where speaker-blowing bass and euphoric trance synths meet intricate textures, from tactile sound design to field recordings of waves. It embodies Harle's pursuit of melancholic euphoria - a blend of megalophobic majesty and raw humanity - inspired by Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker, existing "on the threshold between dreams and reality."Seeking "the best melodies sung by the best voices," Harle enlisted an exceptional cast of collaborators, including Caroline Polachek, Clairo, Julia Michaels, PinkPantheress, Oklou, and MNEK, alongside newer voices like kacha-even his own daughters. Cerulean balances dancefloor power with emotional resonance to brilliant effect. Harle's wide-ranging influences - from hedonistic rave to the haunting Dark Souls video game series, Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach, and Renaissance composers John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and William Byrd - underpin the album's dazzling, genre (and centuries)-spanning focus.Born in North London, Harle's early exposure to avant-garde concerts and chart pop shaped his singular musical lens. Emerging from the visionary PC Music collective with 2013's "Broken Flowers," he became one of pop's most adventurous producers, collaborating with Charli XCX, Carly Rae Jepsen,& co-executive producing Polachek's acclaimed Pang, his credits span Oklou, FKA twigs, Shygirl, and Dua Lipa's Radical Optimism, earning him a GRAMMY nomination for Desire, I Want to Turn Into You.Fusing rave maximalism, classical composition and emotional depth, Cerulean distills Harle's lifelong fascination with beauty, wonder, and the unknown "I just have this mad desire to make my own favorite music," he says. "That's all I've ever wanted to do."