After half a decade of silence, Lunar & The Deception emerge with a statement of intent: The Somnambulist, their long-awaited debut album. It is not merely a record, but a reckoning, one that threads together the intimate and the systemic, the ancient and the urgent, in a work shaped as much by global upheaval as by personal evolution.
Five years in the making, The Somnambulist carries the weight of its journey. Initially recorded at Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire and Old Street Studios in London, the album’s progress was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. What followed was a prolonged period of remote collaboration, survival jobs, and creative endurance. Rather than fracture the project, the delay seems to have deepened it. Now completed alongside producer Michael Rendall, known for his work with The Orb, Peter Murphy, and The Jesus and Mary Chain, the album stands as a testament to patience and artistic conviction.
The record itself is expansive in both sound and scope. Moving through themes of love and mortality, greed and corruption, climate collapse and spiritual awakening, it seeks to map the emotional terrain of a world in flux. Musically, the band draw from a lineage that includes The Doors, Portishead, and Nico, blending these influences into something distinctly their own: smoky, ritualistic soundscapes layered with strings, Theremin, tribal percussion, and spectral vocals that hover between dream and awakening.
At the centre of The Somnambulist lies its most ambitious track, ‘Ezeru Kazpam’. Conceived as a meditation on the ancient Sumerian notion of money as a curse upon humanity, the song unfolds like a ceremony. It begins in near stillness, a spoken-word incantation delivered by frontwoman Britt Xyra Dusk over fragile piano, before building into a towering, cathartic crescendo. Guitars swell, drums crash, and the track expands into something both mythic and immediate. It is a piece that bridges millennia, transforming abstract critique into visceral experience, and ultimately positioning itself as a rallying cry against cycles of exploitation and control.
At the heart of the band is Britt Xyra Dusk herself: vocalist, poet, activist, and creative director. Her artistic identity is shaped by a deep engagement with anthropology, ancient civilisations, paganism, and folklore, interests that permeate both the music and the band’s visual world. Originally from Durban, South Africa, and of Irish–South African heritage, Britt is also an award-winning costume designer in film and television. Every garment, stage element, and much of the band’s aesthetic language is crafted by her hand, lending the project a rare cohesion between sound and vision.
Her perspective defines the album’s philosophical core. “These are powerful times. The walls of the old world are crumbling, and the secrets that upheld them are being revealed. This album is about the fall of oppressive systems and the return of balance—it’s a rallying cry for the rise of the feminine, the artist, and the truth.”
Though The Somnambulist marks their debut album, Lunar & The Deception are far from newcomers. The UK-based four-piece have spent years cultivating a reputation for immersive, ritualistic live performances, appearing at major festivals including Glastonbury in 2016 and 2019. Their return arrives at a moment when their blend of darkwave and dream pop feels particularly resonant, music that does not shy away from the weight of the present, but instead seeks to transform it.
Listen below:
