Léan Prepare To Release Desuetude

Published Date: June 02, 2026

“Faces, cities, years drown in purple mist of desuetude…”

'Desuetude' is the first single to be released by Léan, an intriguing new coalition of musical talents that brings together Vaarwel, known for his work under the windswept banner of Frozen Ocean and as part of the enigmatic Goatpsalm and bleak, harsh Meister Leonhardt, and Lorelei Ether, keyboard player and vocalist with the prolific gothic metal bands, The Lust and Goot. The blending of their two unique creativities has resulted in an elixir of sound that entwines the ghosts of their previous endeavours in threads of a wholly new magic. Vaarwel has offered his insights to the birth of this new endeavour…

“It started several years ago when Lorelei was depleted of music she likes to listen to and thus decided that, in that case, she needed to write this music herself. Since it is something between gothic metal, DSBM, post punk, atmospheric black metal, depressive rock and blackgaze, the window was quite narrow! She wrote some songs, about two dozen and I helped her to develop those to the point of completion.”
It is clear from Vaarwel's words that there is much more to come from Léan, but first there is 'Desuetude', a single designed to introduce the world to this very special project. And it is a song that has existed in a simpler form for many years, as Vaarwel explains…
“It was initially a song that Lorelei wrote when she was about 13, just accompanied by an acoustic guitar. I severely reworked and rearranged it, made it much more complex and wrote appropriate lyrics, also adding male vocals, trying to aggregate all the features of our music in a demonstrative way.”

And the results are remarkable - the fusion of Lorelei's original delicate composition and Vaarwel's engulfing layers and arrangements and haunting lyrical approach becoming something new, something special. 'Desuetude' begins in a cascade of glittering, fragile notes before powerful guitars and drums rise up beneath them like waves, carrying the song forward with an irresistible energy and momentum. Lorelei's soft voice, possessing a beautiful clarity, is joined by Vaarwel's full, rich and rounded tones and a blackened, whispered rasp completes a triumvirate of complimentary vocal timbres. Deeply emotive, there is an undeniable current of melancholy running through 'Desuetude' and yet there is also an uplifting sense of release as it reaches its conclusion, of letting go and moving on. This is just the beginning for Léan, but what a fantastic first offering it is - and one can only wonder, with impatient anticipation, what further stories await us on the road ahead. With unsettling cover art, created by Vaarwel, 'Desuetude' will be available from June 3rd. Be there from the start.

“Thus we will tear all corporal reins constraining souls that could reach the never-ending…”

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