Rinzen announces debut concept album, shares lead single 'Burnin''

Rinzen has announced his debut concept album, 'Bend to the Light', set for release on April 5.

Alongside the news, he shared lead single 'Burnin', featuring Shallou. Think shimmering chords, a breaks-infused growling beat, and ever-growing bass synth.

Shallou's vocals then enter the fore in an otherworldly manner as strings in the background shift full attention to the lyricism of love and obsession.

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In terms of the full album, its concept draws upon a cyberpunk, high-tech aesthetic, where "all that glistens hides a dark shadow below". "‘Bend to the Light’ explores connotations of bending to the universe (spiritual), bending to an authoritarian future government (dystopian), and making decisions that bend towards the light (idealistic), since this new world has the human emotional problems, joys and relationships we deal with now," reads its press release.

"I've been dreaming of writing an album since I started Rinzen, but I don't think I was ready until this moment," he tells Mixmag. "For me, the album brings together everything I've learned in the past few years: scoring work, analog synths, vocal recording, songwriting, sampling, etc. I wanted to take all these skills, and then build an entire world with them. That is 'Bend To The Light’.”

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Ahead of the full album release - which you can pre-order now - two more singles are set to drop. In the meantime, you can check out 'Burnin' featuring Shallou below.

Niamh Ingram is Mixmag's Weekend Editor, follow her on Instagram