EDEN
Upon the release his genre-defying album, In Case You Missed It, visionary EDEN speaks to WOW about artistry, displacement and how he dislikes discussing himself.
INTERVIEWER ROBYN NGAN
PHOTOGRAPHER ALEX WAESPI
“People ask me what I do, and I would just say ‘I make weird pop music’, so I guess I do that. I’m all over the place in terms of genre” EDEN laughed. Transcendent of genres, or rather, “genre-agnostic” as he likes to describe himself, the Irish artist occupies a space a little too broad to be defined, but that is nonetheless extremely human and organic. Preferring to allow his music to be guided by what feels most natural, EDEN remains free and borderless.
Somewhat remaining under the radar, EDEN has cultivated haunting, and genre-bending soundscapes and amassed a cult following without the need for a heavily-marketed social media persona. Less bedroom pop, rather following a path from bedroom to “weird pop”, EDEN’s musical journey mirrors his own progression. Beginning as The EDEN Project, his style was rooted in dance music, quite simply because that was what he was listening to at the time. Whilst today there is still remnants of that – with the electronic presence being undeniable – the process requires a little more excavation. The flow of his latest album references the ebbs and flows of his own life. The pandemic brought his 2020 tour to a halt; after the final Manchester show, the lockdown gave him a reset. It was a time that he just wanted to switch off – something he probably needed too as he blames his penultimate tour date in London as being the reason he caught Covid. His music became insular, a manifestation of his return home and his much-needed time alone. EDEN’s new album ICYMI acts as a response his time spent lamenting, excavating and learning. The song Balling is from the perspective of his younger self, imbued with the memories from his current self, it meditates on loss, oscillating between both impermanence and inevitability. In Case You Missed It offers emotion and inspects grief without sorrow, preferring to elicit introspection from the listener.
EDEN’s self-description of being “all over the place” reflects his childhood back in Dublin. He chalks it down to feeling othered. EDEN’s mixed ancestry of being Hong Kong Chinese and Irish, left him often feeling separate. Although he doesn’t recollect it as being a prominent feature of his life, it didn’t mean he necessarily felt as though he truly belonged. “People talk about ‘Irishness’, a lot of it I don’t relate to or feel like I have the right to relate to it,” he explained. “It’s still something I struggle with. I’m very comfortable with who I am but the pandemic made me lean into my Asian heritage more. Growing up it was something I didn’t really process a lot, but as a result of the pandemic I was forced to think about it a lot more than I had before.”
Confusion and displacement are common themes throughout EDEN’s work, the feeling of never being truly at home is a motif that runs parallel throughout EDEN’s personal life and his music. Speaking from the comfort of his childhood bedroom in Dublin, in his parents’ attic, EDEN recalls that there were places that always resonated with him. Unfortunately, Dublin wasn’t one of them. Not being able to find like-minded people and not feeling as though he fully belonged to a particular scene led him to other avenues, turning to internet connections and building a foundation away from his existing environment. “I think not feeling completely at home was a factor, I always thought I was going to move from Ireland, even if the move wasn’t permanent, I knew I wasn’t going to spend the entirety of my life here. Honestly, not having lived here since 2016 I don’t think I could move back either. I feel a lot more at home in shared cultural exchanges.”
A penchant to engage in places that were multicultural has subconsciously fed into EDEN’s musicality and approach to identity. He feels most comfortable when there’s multiplicity. Polarities and dualities are what set individuals apart, the irony of EDEN’s popularity contrasts his lack of online presence, especially from someone who has roots in the Soundcloud era. There is no obvious answer to everything nor is there always necessity for such. The generic questions surrounding inspiration or why he decided on music as a career are meaningless. “There isn’t an answer I could give. I don’t fucking know, it’s just something I do,” the singer chuckled.
A part of EDEN’s recent single Modern Warfare, centres on the blur between online and offline life. With the non-stop flurry of news, access to media and the ever-growing expectation of content, it’s difficult to disconnect or even distinguish the difference between reality and cyber-personas. EDEN counts himself lucky that he has been able to escape this, “I’m fortunate that I can play to large crowds and that I can walk around and very rarely get recognised. Maybe it’s the way I handle social media and my attitude towards it, but it doesn’t breed crazy fans.” In terms of his online presence, he’s unapologetically aloof and private, “I’m not trying to be transparent at all. Not that I want to be austere, but I’m very uninterested in personal attention, it’s not something I want. I struggle to talk about myself a lot. I don’t really care, I’m not walking around like ‘fuck, wish more people would ask me about this’.”
Although there are not many things EDEN feels the need to disclose, his passion for music is indisputable. After being asked who his favourite artist is at the moment, his eyes lit up. “I listen to a lot of shit and I like a lot of shit,” he remarked. No matter your musical preference, EDEN definitely seems to have a recommendation for you. Recently, his favourite albums have been Westside Gunn’s Peace “Fly” God, and Black Country New Road’s Ants From Up There. But if those aren’t what you’re looking for, the artist also recommends the songs he’s had on repeat recently: Free by Henry Earnest and SKATE by Bawo.
Despite EDEN’s apparent division between his lives online and offline, he admits his current addiction is his phone. (He blames the album release so if he goes seemingly off the grid once promotions are over, you’ll know why.) “I feel super addicted to my phone right now and I hate it. I can’t get enough of it, and I’d really like to never touch it again. Whenever I’m on my phone I just check the same apps, like you check the fridge: nothing has changed but you keep going back. And now I’m stuck in this loop. It doesn’t feel healthy. I don’t like it.” The singer confessed such with a degree of embarrassment, but let’s be honest, it’s something we’re all guilty of.
The clear boundary defined between artist and art is admirable. We seek comfort in what we know, or at least what we think we know. There’s an overwhelming desire to be validated as a consumer. You want others to agree with what you think. You want to see things you’ve already seen. You want reinforcement. EDEN encourages us to enjoy the discomfort of the unfamiliar. When you go to a DJ set, isn’t the point of the medium to be introducing you to new music? For you to be taken down the rabbit hole? EDEN wants you to lean into this, to lean into the unknown. Constantly searching for new horizons and for people who push the envelope has made his music what it is: borderless.
Imagine you’re at a concert, new music at live shows is always somewhat weird because you don’t know what’s coming. What’s the mood? Will it be a bop? But it’s satisfying in and of itself to just pay attention, it’s an awkward, yet fun disturbance. We should be embracing that more.
With the release of his new album In Case You Missed It on 9th September, we expect there to be a tour on the horizon. After two years of not touring, EDEN finally cracked, “you know, I miss doing shows. It’s the first time in my life I’d ever probably say that.” With a new clarity and a new album, EDEN conspires to recalibrate us.