(Lunar & The Deception / Image Credit: Darren Adams)
A few days on from its February 3rd release on X-Ray Sound, ‘Your Monsters’ remains the clearest signal yet of where Lunar & The Deception are headed with The Somnambulist, due March 6, 2026. Co-produced with Michael Rendall, whose résumé includes The Orb, Peter Murphy, and Killing Joke. The single builds on the band’s growing live reputation: backing Pussy Riot at Glastonbury Festival, strong London shows, and a sharp set at the 2022 Sync Summit Music Conference. They’ve earned their stripes elsewhere too, including Artist of the Week at Richer Sounds, 9/10 from Powerplay Magazine. Split between London and South Africa’s Durban and Nelspruit scenes, they blend alt-rock, indie-rock, darkwave, dream pop, gothic, and neo-psychedelia, clearly informed by Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, and Tool, yet close enough in spirit to Portishead, Evanescence, and Esben & The Witch.
Everything orbits vocalist Britt Xyra Dusk, originally from South Africa, now a London-based songwriter, professional costume designer, activist with a stage presence that commands attention. She builds the band’s world around ancient deities, prophetic figures, tribal warriors. Hedge Seel on drums grew up near Oxfordshire’s Rollright Stones and widened his approach after extended time in Southeast Asia and India. Thomas Hammond brings dub know-how and Greg Chapter engineering precision, rounding out a lineup that knows how to layer sound.
It starts with cascading piano over a deep, held-back bass line, Britt’s dusky vocals cutting in with quiet pressure. Guitars roll in carrying neo-psychedelic distortion and classic goth heft. Chord changes slide between major and minor without telegraphing, keeping the tension alive under Hedge Seel’s exact but driving kit work. Smoky harmonies build until the chorus opens up into something anthemic, refined piano lines driving hard against heavy guitars. Late in the song, strings and brass swell alongside elevated leads and mystical vocal stacks, cresting before everything falls back to spare vocal echoes. The quiet finish feels earned.
The band shared: “‘Your Monsters’ is a song that captures the raw tenderness of love while confronting the darker forces that surface when two people collide. It lays bare the beauty and brutality of relationships where affection and destruction exist side by side. When passion gives way to conflict.”
Stream ‘Your Monsters’:
Follow Lunar & The Deception:
Instagram – Facebook – Linktree – Bandcamp – Soundcloud – TikTok – Youtube – Spotify
Leave a reply