Tonight's queer artist feature is HALCYON
HALCYON is the project of Sergio Roberts, born from an idyllic bay with snow-white sand and an azure blue sea on the sun-drenched Caribbean island of Antigua. A true paradise on earth, and one of the magical places where young Sergio spent his childhood before moving to The Netherlands.
His music is a mix of melancholic electronic indie R&B with a nod to 80's synth pop: a sound and style that floats between the electronic-soul fusions of Blood Orange and James Blake whilst embodying the lush vocals tones of Sampha. For Roberts his music stands for nostalgia, a bit of recognition. Like a déjà vu of a feeling: He describes: “It refers to something that you have felt before, but that you have forgotten. Until you are confronted with something – a voice, a song, a scent - that brings you back to that moment. That is what I also want to achieve with my music; it must bring the listener back to a certain moment or feeling."
October 16th marked the release of HALCYONs self-titled debut EP. Signed to Universal after a public demo listening session, debut single ‘Intermutual’ was released on Valentine’s Day and quickly put HALCYON on the radar of local tastemakers.
Follow up single ‘Tongue Tied’ saw Sergio and his band perform live on air for alternative radio station 3FM. He was then selected by OOR magazine as one of their ‘Talents’ from new music tour Popronde, taking place from January – April 2021.
By popular demand, HALCYONs Billie Eilish cover of ‘Ocean Eyes’ was released in July, fans having only heard it via a recorded live session from March. Later that month HALCYON would perform his first live show to a sold out Cinetol in Amsterdam. Soon afterwards he was featured in Dutch LGBTQ+ lifestyle magazine WINQ who will be publishing a follow up interview during his EP release.
Latest single ‘Neon Nights’ dropped on August 21st and was accompanied by a video shot during the Amsterdam lockdown in April. The single received high acclaim from UK online publications Ceasar Live N Loud, Reignland Magazine, Skopemagezine and Tinnitist as well as support from both Charlie Ashcroft and Jordan Scudder at Amazing Radio, UK. Final single ‘Sweep My Heart Away’ will be released on October 2nd, 2 weeks prior to the EP
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