Super Furry Animal’s Cian Ciarán and She Drew The Gun Collaborate for ‘Keep the Darkness Out’

“You got to use the light to keep the darkness out.” Cian Ciarán and Louisa Roach’s love letter to the creative arts.

The release of Keep the Darkness Out, a new collaboration from Super Furry Animals’ Cian Ciarán and She Drew The Gun’s Louisa Roach is the latest to be released as part of a long-term project of Ciarán’s, called Hero Leader God.

The completed album is set to be released in Winter 2020 on Strangetown Records, and will be a collection of collaborations between Ciarán and other artists/songwriters with a call for change.

Keep the Darkness Out mixes heavy, dissonant electro beats with hard-hitting lyrics delivered in the style of spoken word poetry by Louisa Roach. The effect can initially seem a discordant, cacophony of competing sounds but the lyrics cut through the noise to deliver a hefty punch.

The track calls out the frustrations with those in power and forces such as war, religion and politics that cause division and hate. But it is not all doom and gloom, as Roach emphasises the importance and hidden power of creativity and the arts in fighting back. On writing the lyrics for this track, Roach points out that “we’re still free to read, write and sing to a world that ‘they’ don’t understand”. 

Cian Ciarán ft. She Drew The Gun Keep the Darkness Out Lyric Video

Accompanying the release of Keep the Darkness Out is a lyric video that is essential viewing to make sure you don’t miss any of the extremely poignant words expressed by Louisa Roach. 

Different from what you might expect from both She Drew the Gun and Super Furry Animals, this is an impressive track and I look forward to hearing the finished project of Hero Leader God later this year.  

Stream Keep The Darkness Out on Spotify.

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Rach Hankin