EDEN: DARK FINALLY SEES DAYLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPHY JACK ALEXANDER - FASHION PHOEBE BUTTERWORTH - WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS

EDEN  has always been drawn to the edges - of sound, of self, of the world around him. With his sixth studio album Dark, the Dublin-born artist leans into that tension, crafting a body of work that feels both vast and intimate, restless and grounding. It’s a record born out of confrontation, of choosing to sit with unease and still search for beauty.

Across thirteen tracks, Dark is a sensory world - not just to hear, but to see, to feel, to inhale - something EDEN expands on through his new fragrance collaboration with FOLIE à PLUSIEURS. For him, art is always multi-dimensional, always blurring.

As Dark finally sees daylight, EDEN talks F Word through long waits, short truths, bottled scents, and preparations

for his US and EU/UK tour this October.

Maisie Daniels: Hey EDEN, welcome to F Word mag! What’s your favourite “F” word, and why?

EDEN: Phantom, because nothing is real

MD: Your new album Dark is dropping tomorrow (22nd August) - congratulations! What has the lead-up felt like for you?

EDEN: This has been the longest wait of my career without a doubt. The album was finished over a year ago. I’m so relieved it is going to be set free.

MD: How long has this record been in the making, and where were you personally and creatively when you started compared to where you are now?

EDEN: I had the idea for Dark in 2021/2022, and started working on the music for the first time late 2022. The way that these cycles work, usually by the time an album is being released I’m already ideating on the next project. This time round for Dark, it has been such a long process that I have completely fallen in love with the music all over again this year. So I’m excited for what's next. And I’m excited for release day. And that makes me feel in a really good place creatively.

MD: Your work often reflects the tension of contemporary life, did creating Dark change the way you experience or cope with that tension yourself?

EDEN: My instinct is to say that it’s my life in the music - and that’s the way the influence goes. But to be honest, there were some moments in making this music that felt really confrontational. Exercising some demons maybe. Life changes the art and the art changes life. Most of this album was born from finding ways to cope. So it only makes sense that that would reflect back.

MD: If you had to describe Dark to someone who couldn’t hear, how would you?

EDEN: Its contrasts and contradictions. Highs and lows. Intimate and vast. All at the same time. Its the rush and the decay, the light and the dark.

MD: If DARK were a colour, a taste, and a temperature, what would it be, and why?

EDEN: I was thinking about this recently. The album for me is actually warm. Even the talk of snow that is so important to Pocket (montreal) - in my head its when you’re so wrapped up you’re not even bothered. It’s a DJ lighting incense at an underground party. It’s the orange of the flames on the car in the album art. 

MD: You often blend real and digital textures in your music. If emotions could be uploaded like files, which ones would you say are stored on this album?

EDEN: Feeling alone, feeling at a loss for words, feeling bitter, feeling horny, feeling in love, feeling crushed, feeling at peace, feeling anxious, feeling in awe, feeling connected

MD: To coincide with the album, you’re also releasing your fragrance Dark: an aromatic score by EDEN x FOLIE à PLUSIEURS. Where did that idea come from?

EDEN: I stumbled across their work in 2019, and have been obsessed and wearing it ever since. My team and I were thinking of ways to try and expand on the world that the music creates and reaching out to them was something I brought up. It’s been such an amazing process working with their team. We ended up with something really special.

MD: Would you say you’re a sensory person?

EDEN: Absolutely

MD: Can you describe the smell for us, and where it takes you?

EDEN: I feel like its deep and complex. It reminds me of haze. At a show or a rave. And of a late summer night. Theres some combination of things that makes me think of the citrus smell after someone orders a negroni at a bar. It has a very similar blurry nostalgic feel to the music. It touches on some many things as it develops on your skin.

MD: If you could bottle a scent for each track on the album, which one would be the most challenging, and which would be the most fun?

EDEN: I think the hardest would be TEAM or Quantuuuum. Most fun would be Pocket (montreal), its so visual to me.

MD: This October you’re heading out on your US and EU/UK tour. How are you feeling about that?

EDEN: I’ve been holding onto an idea for this tour for years now and I can’t wait to try and make it a reality. Its going to be the most fun of any show I’ve ever done if we can get it right.

MD: How do you think performing these songs live will shift the meaning of the album for you?

EDEN: The tour idea I was talking about is all about shared experience. I want the music to live and breathe in real life with people and bodies. I think it will be hugely cathartic. I’ll have to let you know afterwards how it changes the meaning.

MD: What does performing live give you that the studio never can?

EDEN: Anxiety

MD: And finally, what do you hope your listeners take away from DARK?

EDEN: That the glass is already broken.