Nearly a decade after captivating the world with his breakthrough debut album Sunday, Swedish producer HNNY, also known as Johan Cederberg, is making a triumphant return. His forthcoming album, Light Shines Through, is set for independent release via HNNY’s own imprint on July 5, 2024. Fans don’t have to wait to get a taste of what’s to come, as the lead single “I’ll Come Your Way” is already out. This track is a warmly ambient composition featuring a contemplative broken vocal sample and rolling breakbeats, offering a deeply personal meditation. Listen here.
For his first album in almost ten years, HNNY revisits the electronic soundscapes that defined his early career. Crafted for those quiet, introspective moments at home, Light Shines Through carries a consistent thematic thread, not only in its ambient sounds but also conceptually in what the songs evoke. The album arrives at a pivotal moment in HNNY’s life, following the birth of his two daughters, which has given him a renewed perspective. A quiet optimism and hope resonate throughout the record. Speaking about the album, HNNY shares:
“I started the album a couple of weeks after the New Year and I wrote, recorded, and mixed everything in my home studio, which is in a small shed in the yard of our house. I've found it difficult to undertake larger projects like an album, which often take one or more years to complete. But like my previous album, I did everything in a fairly short period of time, about three months this time. I wanted to create something more electronic than what I've done in recent years and, on a more abstract level, to make a record where I explored something kind of spiritual. Making music about that which cannot be touched.”
HNNY’s melodies offer a gentle alternative to the more complex corners of dance music. Debuting on Studio Barnhus in 2011, Johan Cederberg quickly became one of house music’s most talked-about artists with his signature sample-driven style. He has won a Swedish Grammy in the electronic music category, toured globally, and garnered a following both within and outside the dance music community for his bittersweet strain of dance music. Shortly after releasing his critically acclaimed debut album Sunday, HNNY stopped touring to focus solely on production. Since then, he has amassed hundreds of millions of streams and released numerous singles and EPs on labels such as Let’s Play House, Puss, and Omena. Now, he is finally ready to return to the LP format with Light Shines Through.
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