Okay, real talk: I put on Damian Boylan’s new single “Coda” while making coffee this morning, and ten seconds in I completely forgot the kettle was boiling. That’s the kind of spell this track casts. If you’ve been chasing that sweet spot where Jon Hopkins’ glacial pulses meet Ólafur Arnalds’ heart-on-sleeve strings, stop scrolling—your new obsession just dropped.
“Coda” is the latest taste of Boylan’s forthcoming album Rarefactions (due soon on the impeccably curated Arrow of Time label), and it feels like the moment the record takes a deep breath and remembers it’s being made by a human, not a supercomputer simulating the birth of stars. Clocking in at just over five minutes, it’s brief in cosmic terms but absolutely massive in emotional weight—like a love letter written on the event horizon of a black hole.
Musically, it’s pure magic. Plucked staccato strings (recorded live at the legendary AIR Studios, no less) dance over a bed of warm, resonant bass. Then come those cheeky modular square-wave arpeggios straight from a Moog semi-modular system—crisp, playful, and just glitchy enough to remind you this isn’t your dad’s neoclassical record. Ethereal, breathy vocal fragments float in and out like half-remembered dreams, giving the whole thing this fragile, achingly human pulse. Fans of Kiasmos, Christian Löffler, Rival Consoles, or even the softer side of Four Tet are going to lose their minds.
And the mastering? Handled by Matt Colton at Metropolis—the guy who’s polished gems for Aphex Twin, Thom Yorke, and BICEP. You can literally hear the London air in the reverb. Every detail is surgical, yet nothing feels cold. It’s the rare electronic-leaning track that makes you want to cry in the club… or in your kitchen while the kettle screams, apparently.
The visuals are next-level too. Boylan directed and edited a full experimental music video that’s basically a virtual phenakistoscope spinning inside an ever-morphing vinyl label. Watching the geometries bloom and collapse in perfect sync with the track gave me legitimate chills. It’s the kind of art that makes you feel like you’re witnessing the heat death of the universe in 4K, but in the gentlest way possible.
For context, Damian Boylan isn’t exactly new to the game. The British-Hong Kong-based composer/producer/visual artist already racked up millions of streams and global tours with his melodic house project Parvenu (co-produced with a double-Grammy winner, no big deal). But Rarefactions feels like the project he was born to make—12 tracks, each with its own short film and bespoke artwork, pressed on limited double vinyl. This is the kind of ambitious, cross-disciplinary statement that doesn’t come around often.
Look, 2025’s electronic landscape is stacked, but “Coda” carves out its own quiet corner and demands you sit with it. It’s romantic, intricate, and quietly devastating in the best way. If you’re into organic house, downtempo electronica, neoclassical vibes, or just beautiful things that make your chest tight, you need this in your life.
Stream “Coda” everywhere now, pre-save Rarefactions, and keep an eye on Arrow of Time for that vinyl drop (trust me, you’ll want the physical).
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What do you think of “Coda”? Too pretty? Just pretty enough? Drop your thoughts below—I read every single comment.
