Kedr Livanskiy Announces Debut LP ‘Ariadna,’ Shares Dreamy Title Track

Following a pair of well-received EPs on New Jersey/New York imprint 2MR, Moscow-based singer and producer Kedr Livanskiy has announced her debut album Ariadna, and shared the title track.

According to a press release, the record was inspired by 80s Russian electronic and experimental music, written using Roland SH-101, Roland Juno 106, and Korg Minilogue synthesizers, and mixed in Ableton. “Ariadna” anchors its elegantly drifting shoegaze melodies with a knocking electro beat, managing to bring an indie rock songwriting approach to the club without any clunky “crossover” baggage.

In an email to THUMP, the Johns’ Kingdom collective member explained the story behind the lead single, which is named after the Greek goddess.

“When I first watched video footage of the first underground rock and experimental festival in the USSR, Podolsk ’88, the band Nastya Poleva sang the song ‘Ariadne,’ based on the myth of Ariadne and the Labyrinth of the Minotaur.

I explore mythical and fairytale themes in ‘Ariadna,’ and mythological imagery has appeared before in my songs, for example, ‘Sgoraet.’ I’ve always been fascinated by myths and consciousness. It’s an an escape from reality and brings self-realization through archetypes.

Mythological imagery conveys the nuances of a person’s inner, emotional life—his or her struggle to come into his own. Each myth has played out some time, somewhere in real life. I consider many fairytales to be myths, and I’m interested in the archetypes found in them.”

Listen to it below, read our 2016 interview with the artist, and pre-order Ariadna here before it comes out Sept. 8.

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